In his regular weekly column in the Wall Street Journal William Galston sees the risks and opportunities for Joe Biden in the present situation:
If Mr. Trump had wanted to improve the situation, not pick a fight, he would have worked with mayors. Instead, he demonized them as weak, left-wing Democrats while dispatching federal personnel without their consent.
Still, lighting fires in a federal courthouse goes well beyond the bounds of peaceful protests, as does hurling projectiles against police. By failing to acknowledge and denounce these acts, Mr. Biden has left himself exposed to the charge that his presidency would not draw a forceful line against violence.
This fits into a line of attack that the Trump campaign is determined to press. No one believes that Joe Biden is a dangerous radical. But the president and his advisers charge that Mr. Biden will be a tool of leftists because he is beholden to them and too befuddled to stand up to them. The former vice president needs to show that this is not the case.
closing
Despite the country’s dire circumstances, few Americans are in a revolutionary mood. They are tired of the tumult of the Trump years, and they yearn for a return to normal life. The Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing economic downturn have bred insecurity and a sense that events are spiraling out of control.
Americans are open to a counteroffer that seems reasonable. But Mr. Biden will jeopardize his standing as a credible alternative to the incumbent if he is seen as denying the reality of violence Americans can see for themselves.
There’s another risk that Mr. Galston hasn’t seen: following the approach he’s outlined would put VP Biden in opposition to the Congressional leadership which appears to be doubling down on the notion that what is happening in Portland consists of peaceful protests. And Mr. Biden may need the “few Americans who are in a revolutionary mood” in November.
‘If Mr. Trump had wanted to improve the situation, not pick a fight, he would have worked with mayors.’
Kinda hard to work with mayors and governors when they refuse offered help. Just because OMB acts like an a**hole doesn’t mean you got act like one yourself in response. Who you serving by doing that, your ego or the citizens who elected you and need your protection?
‘No one believes that Joe Biden is a dangerous radical.’
He was never a radical, just a grifter. Fooled me for a while though.
‘Mr. Biden will be a tool of leftists because he is beholden to them and too befuddled to stand up to them.’
Joe probably doesn’t know what beholden means anymore, except in a sense I won’t discuss here. Befuddled? Definitely.
‘Mr. Biden will jeopardize his standing as a credible alternative to the incumbent if he is seen as denying the reality of violence Americans can see for themselves.’
Mr. Galston seems to be of the (what I consider to be deluded) opinion that Joe still has the ability to stand up for himself or anything else. Joe will do anything Jill and his other handlers will tell him to do, at least for the few seconds of cognition he currently seems to be able to retain between orders and suggestions.
I ain’t got no warm and fuzzies for Joe. IMO he’s a corrupt crooked politician who’s been Captain Wrongway on almost every policy issue he’s ever spoken about. But mentally he’s declined terribly in the few months since his last primary debate. We’ve still got three months to go before the election. What the h**l is he going to be like come November? His whole team including his wife should be imprisoned for elder abuse.
I don’t understand how such a mentally compromised candidate/nominee, like Biden, could continue being a legitimate prospect for POTUS. His deterioration is front and center in every obviously choreographed public appearance he is guided through by handlers. Consequently, it’s both sad and sickening to see him muddle through softball interviews and simple events, with the Dems acting like everything is normal, and don’t believe your lying eyes and ears if someone thinks differently.
Besides Biden’s mental hollowness, his long public service past is full of self-serving episodes of helping family members (5 of them) enrichIng themselves through Biden exploiting his high level positions in government. The Dems, though, only seem to howl about anyone staying at a Trump hotel, rather than looking into the millions, billions given over to Biden’s family through business deals secured during his time being a power broker in government.
Maybe, the Dems have been sprayed with a mist ofâ€stupid.â€
It is not hard to understand why Biden is winning by a mile.
10+% unemployment; 150000+ dead from a pandemic that is near peak; major rise in urban unrest.
Are you better off today then 4 years ago? Is the country better off today then 4 years ago?
“in November”
Not your average November either, if Corona-virus cases are surging, which party gains advantage from a reduced voter turnout?
Would Trump be right that a delayed election would benefit him and his party, or would mail in ballots really benefit Democrats?
I don’t think anyone knows because the demographic young enough to ignore the viral danger has a historically low turnout, and the old, who should fear going to the polls, vote conservative and are more likely to comply with mail in balloting. Or, mask up and vote anyway.
It’s quite possible the events that will steer this election have yet to occur.
A serious military confrontation with China benefiting Trump or a 20% market crash hammering his chances.
Besides what CO has noted, everything of which Biden is accused here is true of Trump in spades. Biden doesnt have to be a great option, just better than Trump. Trump essentially immunizes any Dem candidate on the issue of ethics. Trump is at least as cognitively impaired from what I am seeing.
Steve
‘Trump essentially immunizes any Dem candidate on the issue of ethics.’
If Trump was as ethically challenged as you claim he is he would have been impeached and removed from office his first year, and I would have cheered his removal. They would have had at their fingertips a bazillion examples of clear-cut corruption and self-serving behavior on the public dollar. Instead they were forced to use a leaked phone call which touched on somebody else’s corruption and came up with a general he’s a bad man charge which could apply to you, me, and the guy behind the tree.
‘Trump is at least as cognitively impaired from what I am seeing.’
We’re seeing two different movies here. Joe can’t complete a sentence even while reading off a teleprompter. OMB holds frequent pressers and interviews (Chris Wallace the latest) and speaks extemporaneously for lengthy periods of time. He’s got stream-of-consciousness diarrhea of the mouth, and I don’t like a lot of what he says and the way he says it, but he cognitively impaired he ain’t.
“If Trump was as ethically challenged as you claim he is he would have been impeached and removed from office his first year, and I would have cheered his removal. ”
GOP controls the Senate. There is almost nothing he can do for which they would impeach him. The DOJ protects him from investigation. However you are ignoring his many years of crooked behavior before he was elected. His unethical and illegal business practices are well documented (it pays to be rich in the NYC/NJ real estate market so you can get away with stuff) plus his long history of personal immorality.
You do realize that cognitive impairment shows in many ways I hope? If you pay attention when talking with people who have dementia there are people who rattle on forever and quite convincingly but they are just confabulating. They have no idea wha they are talking about but wont admit it. Get angry very easily when confronted. Look at older Trump interviews. He has lost half of his vocabulary, makes up stuff that isn’t remotely true and the anger is always there. NO like he was 30 years ago.
Steve
I found curious’ comment curiously simple minded. None of that was true until corona. And it’s a combination of China, a Dem cottled country, and Dem friendly/driven policies wrt corona that have driven this. It continues to this day. Maybe the electorate is that stupid.