Although Joe Biden He arrived at the first presidential debate last Thursday with the task of convincing the electorate that, despite his advanced age, he is in full physical and mental condition to direct the designs of United States for four more yearsthe president failed resoundingly in the attempt.
According to the criteria of
Although it is true that his rival Donald Trump He was also criticized for the accumulation of lies he told during the hour and a half that lasted the first of the two televised meetings. According to the analyzes of The New York Times, The Washington Post and this diarythe Republican told an average of one lie every three minutes, what is worrying on Biden’s side is that he was left in a bad position within the Democratic ranks.
His poor performance ended up fueling the caricature that Republicans had been painting for months: that of a handicapped man with serious cognitive problems and unleashing true panic in the Democratic party.
Such is the situation that many, including very close allies, have asked the president to step aside and allow the party to nominate a new candidate for the elections next November.
From the first minute of Thursday’s meeting, organized by the network CNNthe president looked without energy, speaking in a low tone and with a hoarse voice. His gaze, at times, seemed lost in infinity, with his mouth open as if in disbelief. His body language was compounded by incongruous and choppy responses.
For at least two moments, the president seemed to paralyze, forgetting the question he had just been asked and stumbling in his response.
In one of them, when he had just been questioned about women’s reproductive rights – one of his supposed strengths -, Biden ended by talking about immigration.
“I have no idea what he just answered and I think neither does he,” Trump responded, taking advantage of the moment.
The bar that Biden had to overcome when entering this debate was very low and he didn’t even come close. He didn’t seem prepared, he looked lost and lacked the strength to counter Trump’s lies.
In another, also on the immigration front, he spoke of a “total ban” on border crossings when trying to explain a recent initiative that seeks to reduce asylum applications if daily crossings exceed a threshold of 2,500 people.
In general, his intervention was plagued by inconsistencies or unfinished ideas. “(We’re) making sure that we can make every single person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with Covid-19, excuse me, with dealing with everything that has to do with… Finally, we beat Medicare…,” the president said to a question about the expansion of health coverage in the country.
Although Biden improved as the minutes passed, he never managed to recover from the terrible start of the debate, just the moment when most people were tuned in.
Of course, in the midst of it all, he managed to score some points. Like when he rubbed Trump’s recent conviction for hiding payments to a porn actress or when he said that Trump’s morale was as low as that of a stray cat. But even that, given the overall tone of his performance, ended up being mentions without much weight.
Trump’s lies
Trump, it is worth clarifying, was not up to the task either. According to multiple information editors, the former president told at least 30 lies or half-truths in just an hour and a half (or the equivalent of one lie for every three minutes). Some of them absurd, like that newborn babies were being executed in Democratic states or that Biden had quadrupled taxes on the majority.
He also refused to commit to the outcome of the election if he were to lose in November. Something that would have been heavy had it not been for the US president’s terrible night. But, in a way, which perhaps speaks volumes about this moment in American politics, his avalanche of lies ended up causing little surprise because it is something that is already part of his personality and Americans have even become accustomed to it.
In other words, Trump was Trump and, in that context, he lived up to what was expected. Biden, on the other hand, does not.
And that was felt, strongly, throughout the country. Logically, the Republicans claimed instant victory in a debate that, according to CNN’s first measurements, Trump won with at least 67 percent of the preferences vs. 33 percent for Biden.
The ‘friendly fire’ against Biden
Perhaps the most painful thing was the criticism he received from his own supporters. The “friendly fire”. Vice President Kamala Harris herself had to admit that Biden’s start had not been the best.
But those were the mildest words. Julian Castro, a former Democratic mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and an official in the Trump administration, Barack Obama Castro, who at one point aspired to the party’s nomination, did not mince words in lashing out at its leader. “The bar that Biden had to overcome entering this debate was very low and he did not even come close. He did not seem prepared, he looked lost and he lacked the strength to counter Trump’s lies,” said Castro.
Maria Shriver, the former first lady of California and a member of the Kennedy family, was more cautious, but equally brutal. “I love Joe Biden. I know he’s a good man. I know his heart is good. I know he’s dedicated to our country and he’s surrounded by good people. But tonight was heartbreaking in so many ways. This was a great political moment. There’s panic in the Democratic Party. It’s going to be a long night,” Shriver wrote on social media.
Claire McCaskill, a former Democratic senator from Missouri, echoed Shriver’s sentiment, and while she said the debate had shown Trump to be “a liar, a mean man, and a moron,” that did not obscure the other reality.
“Biden had one goal and that was to assure America that he was up to the job at his age, and he failed at that tonight. I’m not the only one whose heart is broken. There are a lot of people who saw this tonight who are hurting for Joe Biden today,” McCaskill said.
Biden had one goal and that was to assure America that he was up to the job at his age, and he failed at that tonight. I’m not the only one whose heart is broken. There are a lot of people who saw this tonight and who are hurting for Joe Biden today.
David Plouffe, one of Obama’s top advisors during his 8 years in the White House, put it in military terms to explain the seriousness of the situation: “This is Defcon 1,” said the former advisor, comparing the moment to the military term which is used for the highest alert level and indicates an imminent nuclear war.
Some sectors of the Republican Party are even considering the possibility of asking Vice President Kamala Harris to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president, an unlikely scenario knowing the closeness that exists between her and the president.
For now, Biden himself seemed to cling on Friday to the possibility of continuing in office. “I don’t walk as easily as I used to, I don’t speak as fluently as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know how to do this job,” the president said at a rally in North Carolina.
Another candidate?
Although the idea of replacing Biden as the party’s candidate was something that was discussed at the beginning of the campaign, this Thursday’s debate resurrected the idea. And from the front.
“Democrats should nominate someone else now, before it’s too late,” wrote Andrew Yang, one of the party’s 2020 presidential hopefuls.
Nicholas Kristof, one of The New York Times’ most renowned columnists, asked Biden to reflect on his performance in the debate and then step aside. He suggested, as alternatives, Senator Sherrod Brown, Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo or Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
According to Kristof, “any of them could still intervene and beat Trump” in the elections. Also, through social networks, the name of Gavin Newsom, the governor of California and considered a prospect for the future of the Democratic party, was heard a lot.
Democrats should nominate someone else now, before it’s too late
In Congress, although quietly and requesting anonymity, many asked to consider alternatives. For them, the biggest fear is that Biden’s poor performance could not only cost them the White House but sink the Democrats in Congress, which will also be at stake in the elections.
They also fear that doubts about their eligibility will scare away donors and exhaust the resources they need to campaign.
For now, however, the bulk of the party continued to insist that Biden will be the candidate and none of his potential replacements wanted to even consider the possibility.
“The goal is to defeat Trump and in that we will be united and supporting the president,” Newsom said after finishing the debate.
Although it is potentially viable, since the party has not nominated Biden – something that happens during the National Convention scheduled for August 19 – the majority agrees that replacing him at this point would be suicide.
The goal is to defeat Trump and in that we will be united and supporting the president.
Partly because “maturing” a candidate in just four months is an almost impossible task. Especially when the rival is someone as well-known as Trump. But also because a move of this nature would be synonymous with chaos and could fracture a party that does not appear to be on the same page.
Biden, of course, could still rally in a race that still has more than four months to go. And many, the most optimistic, still believe the threat Trump poses could be enough to tip a majority.
And they point to the next debate, scheduled for the end of September, as a new opportunity for the president to allay the fears that arose this Thursday. It may be, but if there is no doubt about one thing, it is that the hopes of Joe Biden and the Democrats regarding a possible re-election are in intensive care.
SERGIO GOMEZ MASERI
CORRESPONDENT OF EL TIEMPO
WASHINGTON
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