Push-ups won’t make the Biden campaign strong
Can a candidate who is leading the field by 12 points be weak?That’s the question of Joe Biden’s run for the Democraticpresidential nomination.
The fact is, Biden’s campaign is showing signs of weakness. Sois the candidate himself. And doing push-ups, as Biden suggested hemight do to show up President Trump, won’t make him any stronger.
In mid-May, Biden led the sprawling Democratic field by 26points in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls. By lateMay, the lead was 17 points. By late June, it was 15 points. Today,it is 12.
So Biden’s lead is still big, but it’s less than half of what itwas not that long ago.
What might be more concerning to Biden supporters are the signsBiden is not running at full strength — that the 76-year-old formervice president has lost a step.
Some voters became concerned about that at the first Democraticdebate on June 27, when rival Sen. Kamala Harris hit Biden with anattack about his opposition to busing to desegregate schools in the1970s. (Harris began the exchange with a zinger: “I do not believeyou are a racist.”) Even though Biden’s old position had been in thenews, he seemed unprepared. His response was feeble anddisorganized, ending with, “My time is up. I’m sorry.”
Afterward, Biden complained that there was no way to explain anuanced issue in the 30 seconds required by a televised debate.
In a conversation Tuesday with MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski, Bidenadmitted he was blindsided by Harris. “I didn’t expect thatparticular attack,” Biden said, “and that question starting off, ‘Iknow you’re not a racist.”’ He complained again about debate timelimits.
And then Brzezinski asked, “The public is interested in howyou’re going to fight Donald Trump. Kamala Harris — if you weren’tready for her, are you ready to fight this guy who doesn’t playfair?”
Biden explained that he expects the campaign to be ugly and thatTrump will not run an “honorable” race. “But I’m not backing down atall from him,” Biden said. Yes, he was surprised when Harris “saidsomething so off the wall to me,” but Biden pledged to “take on” thepresident.
It wasn’t exactly confidence-inspiring. And then Brzezinskiasked what Biden would do if Trump “starts making fun of your age,your mental state, starts going after you ...”
“I’d say, ‘Come on, Donald,”’ Biden said. “‘Come on, man. Howmany push-ups you want to do here, pal? I mean, jokingly. Run withme, man.”’ Biden went on to explain that he often runs when he takespart in parades so he can make sure to meet as many people and shakeas many hands as possible.
It was the answer of a man who knows the public is concernedabout his vigor. Yes, Trump himself is pushing the limits ofpresidential age — he was 70 when he took office. But if Biden iselected, he will be 78 upon starting the presidency — the same ageTrump would be upon finishing a second term.
At a recent Sen. Harris town hall in South Carolina, a number ofvoters — not just Harris supporters but also Democrats stillshopping for a candidate — expressed doubts about Biden’s stayingpower.
That is not to say that Biden is without strengths. He is stillwell ahead in the national polls, as well as early state polls inIowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He is still raising a lot ofmoney, although much of it comes from large donors who have hit thelegal contribution limit, while other candidates have lots of smalldonors who can give again and again and still stay under the limit.
But Biden, the man who has spent more than four decades infederal office, still has to convince voters he has what it takesfor four, and perhaps eight, more years. So far, he hasn’t gottenthat job done.