Voters’ choice: Narcissist who delivered on promises or gaffe-prone Biden in a basement
After nearly two years of ambitious people announcing they want to be president, campaigning and then giving up, Americans are usually ready by this point in an election cycle for a change of pace. But this leap year with the country convulsed by the coronavirus and its economic reverberations, politics is actually the change of pace.
We’re just under six months out from Election Day now — 25 weeks — with the largest fireworks yet to come at summer conventions of some kind and an angry autumn. So, where do we stand in the 59th election of a commander in chief?
No one can be absolutely certain. But we can assemble some knowns and target the unknowns in what has become likely the United States’ most unusual quadrennial election, at least in modern times. First, there is no conventional wisdom anymore, only partisan opinions, often wishful. President Donald Trump is clearly headed for another stunning win, or Joe Biden’s Oval Office entrance is assured.
Incumbent presidents, however, usually win their elections. And wannabe vice president challengers usually don’t. Think Richard Nixon, Walter Mondale and Al Gore. Advantage incumbents, unless economic times are tough. And economic times are tough.
So will voters, even the historically high number of jobless, decide that the coronavirus outbreak was not the president’s fault? Will they remember whose tax cuts and deregulations spawned such prosperity, optimism, a booming economy and low unemployment way, way back in February of 2020?
Or will they opt for the oldest presumptive presidential nominee ever, an ex-vice president who promised hundreds of thousands of new shovel-ready jobs every month in 2010 and 2011 that never materialized during the last recession and caused the slowest economic recovery in 80 years?
Will they settle on a wealthy, neophyte politician who’s kept so many promises from his first campaign, but whose shocking victory and boorish behavior have alienated a majority of Americans since taking office?
Or will they fall for a D.C. denizen with six Senate terms and two previous weak and unsuccessful White House bids that never even garnered a single convention delegate? In 2008, Joe Biden quit the Democratic race after Iowa when he captured fifth place with less than 1% of the vote.
Trump is a rhetorical devotee of overkill. He says things two, three, sometimes four times in case you’re dim. He is, in many ways, the Don Rickles of politics, a master of wince-worthy insults but without the humor. Trump’s stubbornly loyal base absolutely loves it. Others not so much, including those who value presidential decorum and fully-baked ideas.
That Trump base is not enough to win on Nov. 3, but he’s not changing, folks.
Biden is said to have overcome a childhood stuttering problem. Demosthenes, the greatest of Greek orators, did too. He conquered it by practicing speeches with pebbles in his mouth. Often, it seems Biden leaves the pebbles in, even with a teleprompter. Just one example, speaking of what he calls “Covid-9” or “conavirus”: ““We have to take care of the cure. That will make the problem worse no matter what.”
Unlike the president, Biden has positioned himself in a basement so far, where a faltering teleprompter revealed a political veteran unable to explain why he should be president.
During an attempted video outreach to Florida voters last week, the livestream went seriously wrong — pixelating the heads of speakers and going dark for long minutes.
Finally, after 40 minutes the man who would have access to nuclear launch codes appeared, leaning against a wall, wearing dark aviator sunglasses indoors. Biden stood silent for a very long seven seconds, seemingly missing his cue.
Objectively, Americans have quite a choice this cycle. A boorish narcissist who treasures turmoil and delivered a couple years of prosperity while donating his entire salary to charity? Or a senescent, gaffe-prone Uncle Joe who was plucked from 29 candidates because he’s the most familiar and not a socialist? Dynamic, he is not.
Biden is attempting to alter that impression by naming a female running mate in the coming weeks. National polls consistently show Biden defeating Trump. Trouble is, national polls are like the popular vote. They do not reflect the state-by-state reality of the Electoral College. If they did, it would be a female president seeking reelection this year.
The media prefer Biden and detest the combative Trump. So, they’ve been slow to take up allegations of a 1993 sexual assault by Biden, who’s notorious for nimble hands in the company of women. A year ago, he apologized for being slow to learn new social norms about personal space and vowed to improve.
Biden’s team has also been slow to deploy technology and online campaigning, which Trump’s team has been doing aggressively for months with millions of contacts, even before the virus lockdown.
Trump’s campaign is about to launch a $10 million anti-Biden ad blitz tailored to individual swing states, the start of more than $100 million to define the Democrat and his son as true friends of China, soft on Cuba (for Florida) and put to good use whatever other materials have been dug up to damage the Democrat in the 4,200 hours between today and election night.
Like Mitt Romney’s effort in 2012, Biden’s underfunded campaign will be unable to respond for damaging months. Postponing the convention by five weeks also delays Biden’s access to federal funding.
Trump aides reportedly debated in recent weeks whether to hold off on attacking Biden until later, fearful that too many early wounds could cause Democrats to dump him for a stronger candidate before fall. Trump, however, has never seemed shy about attacking. So, that debate now appears resolved.
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Voters’ choice: Narcissist who delivered on promises or gaffe-prone Biden in a basement."