Neoliberalism
Democratic (neoliberal) Party
Joe Biden
Fig. 1. Joe Biden and Pope Francis, unknown photographer, April 29, 2016, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
In Tuesday’s private conversation, [Joe] Biden was also “chastened” as he “blamed himself” – not his staff – for the debate performance.
“He said: ‘I have done way too much foreign policy,’” this person said. “He said to me: ‘I have over done it. I did too much travel. I did too much back and forth. I did too much time change. I had a cold. That was a mistake.’”
Biden was referring to his back-to-back trips to France and Italy right before the debate, even though he had nearly two weeks between his return on June 15 from Italy for the G7 meeting and the debate on June 27, according to a CNN review of his schedule.[1]
Excuses, excuses, excuses. I was tired of the fucking excuses a very, very, very, very, very long time ago.
No more fucking excuses. Not from Joe Biden. Not from the Democrats. Not from anybody. I want results. Now. Shoulda been at least two decades ago.
And this is not how you show you’re ready to do the job:
The growing worry comes as [Joe] Biden has told allies in recent days that he is in a tough moment and that he has to prove to voters in the coming days that he is up for the job, according to two people familiar with the conversations. His critics inside the senior ranks of the party argue he has done little over six days since the debate to directly address the deep concerns of Democrats and the voting public about his ability to handle the job.
Biden has only appeared in public three times since a rally Friday in North Carolina — for remarks on a Supreme Court decision, on extreme weather and at Stonewall National Monument in New York — to speak for a total of 22 minutes, exclusively while using teleprompters. He also attended a series of fundraisers and other weekend campaign events.[2]
Unsurprisingly, this is failing to persuade:
One senior campaign adviser called the situation “a deafening silence,” from the top, reflecting the concerns of other advisers who described a failure of the president to publicly demonstrate his fitness for office as panic built inside the party. Other longtime [Joe] Biden allies — who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly — have described continued frustration about the political response and a growing conviction that a change needs to be made.[3]
I’ve already said Biden is done. I’m only more convinced now. Read the whole fucking story. It’s damning.
Eugene Daniels, Rachael Bade, and Ryan Lizza, “Team Biden tries to quell Dem panic,” Politico, June 30, 2024, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2024/06/30/team-biden-tries-to-quell-dem-panic-00165945
Tyler Pager, “Biden aides plotted debate strategy for months. Then it all collapsed,” Washington Post, June 30, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/30/how-biden-debate-prep-led-to-damaging-event/
Maeve Reston, “Black men helped power Biden’s 2020 Georgia win. Some are wavering,” Washington Post, June 30, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/30/black-voters-georgia-election-biden-trump/
Alex Thompson, “Top aides shielded Biden from staff, but couldn’t hide the debate,” Axios, June 30, 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/06/30/top-aides-shielded-biden-white-house-debate
John Heilemann, “Bidenworld’s Darkest Hour,” Puck, July 1, 2024, https://puck.news/should-biden-stay-or-should-he-go/
Matthew Choi, “Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett calls on Biden to withdraw from presidential race,” Texas Tribune, July 2, 2024, https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/02/lloyd-doggett-joe-biden-withdraw-election/
Liz Goodwin et al., “Manchin threatened to break with Biden before senior Democrats intervened,” Washington Post, July 2, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/02/joe-manchin-biden-debate-democrats-drop-out/
Peter Hamby, “Biden Plunges in Swing States in Leaked Post-Debate Poll,” Puck, July 2, 2024, https://puck.news/biden-plunges-in-swing-states-in-leaked-post-debate-poll/
Jared Mitovich, “Democrats begin attacking Biden’s performance and campaign,” Politico, July 2, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/02/democrats-biden-debate-fallout-00166208
Eli Stokols et al., “‘We’ve all enabled the situation’: Dems turn on Biden’s inner sanctum post debate,” Politico, July 2, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/02/biden-campaign-debate-inner-circle-00166160
M. J. Lee, “Biden has privately acknowledged next stretch of days are critical for whether he can save his reelection bid,” Cable News Network, July 3, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/03/politics/joe-biden-2024-campaign-troubles
Michael Scherer, Tyler Pager, and Matt Viser, “Biden faces growing political crisis over response to debate performance,” Washington Post, July 3, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/03/biden-crisis-debate-democrats/
- [1]M. J. Lee, “Biden has privately acknowledged next stretch of days are critical for whether he can save his reelection bid,” Cable News Network, July 3, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/03/politics/joe-biden-2024-campaign-troubles↩
- [2]Michael Scherer, Tyler Pager, and Matt Viser, “Biden faces growing political crisis over response to debate performance,” Washington Post, July 3, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/03/biden-crisis-debate-democrats/↩
- [3]Michael Scherer, Tyler Pager, and Matt Viser, “Biden faces growing political crisis over response to debate performance,” Washington Post, July 3, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/03/biden-crisis-debate-democrats/↩