It’s only been four days since Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, and the White House is scrambling to find its feet. Truly, I’ve never seen anything like this. I understand that there have been past presidents who faced health issues, but never in the internet age, and there’s no going back at this point. The American people know, and trying to convince them that Biden will de-age and be expertly managed for another four years is the toughest of tasks.
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So what’s the strategy? We saw a preview of it on Sunday after the president’s handlers released a chopped-up video of Biden mumbling through a short teleprompter read. The topic at hand was “democracy,” signaling that this White House is betting on the same talking points that brought them to the current abyss. It’s a strategy, I guess.
I counted nine different cuts in that 38 second video, and even then, Biden struggled to get through his lines in some segments. The glassy eyes, the stiff presentation, and the raspy voice are all there. It’s the same guy who blew up his campaign last Thursday evening in front of a large segment of the country. Any claims that Biden looks and sounds better earlier in the day in a more controlled environment are simply cope.
Now would have been the time for Biden’s comms team to take a break and let things settle down to the extent that they can. Instead, his handlers trotted him back out there to look and sound nearly the same while spouting the same tired message that hadn’t resonated in years.
Americans are worried about the things that affect them. That would be the economy, border security, and government spending driving inflation. Continuing to beat them over the head with vague claims about “defending democracy” from the bad orange man is the worst possible strategy Biden could adopt. It’s tone-deaf, it’s dishonest, and it’s irrelevant. Polls are now consistently showing that Americans do not view Donald Trump as a “threat to democracy” at a level outside of partisan rigor, with the current president seeing nearly the same numbers.
That video is a five-alarm fire. This White House has nothing left. There is no secret plan ready to be executed that will usher in victory. Biden and his handlers, including his elder-abusing wife, have nowhere else to go. It’s shouting about “democracy” and heavily edited videos right up until election day.
