The ballad of Biden: Don’t stand so close to me
Former Vice President Joe Biden is an affectionate guy. Where most people are comfortable with handshakes and even “daps” in mixed racial company, Joe Biden always moves in for the hug, especially the kind that pulls you right in and usually ends with a peck on the forehead or an affectionate sniff of the hair.
On tragic or joyous occasions, Mr. Biden, who has never been afraid to wear his emotions on his sleeve, will initiate the dreaded “nose-to-nose” ritual guaranteed to end with the total erasure of whatever remains of your personal space.
In a more innocent time — i.e. the pre-Trump, pre-Harvey Weinstein era — Joe Biden’s brand of body-positive politicking was considered annoying by many, but not predatory. Not even quasipredatory.
Republicans and some snarky Democrats often referred to him as “Creepy Uncle Joe” even though he had never done anything more untoward to women than be a massive ball of undifferentiated physical affection and uninvited contact.
Still, there were those who felt Mr. Biden’s folksy “gropeyness” was a holdover from more patriarchal times when men could presume to violate women’s space without asking. He may have been courtly about it and harmless in terms of his intentions, but Mr. Biden’s presumption was obvious
even back then.
Then along came #MeToo. Suddenly, everyone has to reevaluate social behaviors that once subordinated one gender to another. What had worked for most of Mr. Biden’s political life is considered intolerable today.
As Mr. Biden gears up for what everyone expects to be a run for the Democratic presidential nomination, several women have come forward to accuse him of everything from hair-sniffing to getting too close for comfort. No one has accused him of sexual harassment, but he is alleged to have behaved in a manner unbefitting his stature.
At a time when he’ll be vying against the largest pool of female presidential talent ever, there’s something anachronistic and a little sad about an old white guy who has to be instructed by public outrage to keep his hands to himself. Whenever I see him, I think of that old Police song “Don’t Stand So Close To Me.”
Mr. Biden’s defenders blame the rival Bernie Sanders campaign for stirring up trouble since one of his accusers is a longtime supporter of Sen. Sanders. As a result of her accusation, and a few others, Mr. Biden’s “handseyness” has become a hot political issue and a social media meme, again.
For his part, Mr. Biden insists that he’s learned a lot about the importance of respecting people’s personal space in these evolving times.
On Wednesday, Mr. Biden’s people posted an awkward public service announcement on social media in which he repeated a passive-voiced apology to those he may have gotten too “handsey” with in the past. He assured America that he now gets it in a
that would’ve been right at home on an excruciating sitcom like “The Office.”
While watching Mr. Biden’s hastily thrown together video, I kept wondering why he wants to be president at a time in his life when he should be enjoying his grandchildren, kicking back and writing his memoirs.
Why is he willing to subject himself to the humiliation of being a frontrunner for two weeks before the gravity of his past political choices — from anti-busing crusades in Delaware in the 1970s to Anita Hill, “super-predators” and his vote to deregulate Wall Street — pull his numbers down.
Some old-school Democrats argue that because Joe Biden is the party’s only sure-fire Trumpbeater, subjecting him to the cannibalism of liberal purity tests and PC rostrums guarantees a second Trump term. I think this underestimates the contempt with which the current occupant of the White House is held.
Democrats, Independents and even a few Republicans will come out in record numbers in 2020 to vote against a second Trump term. It is absurd to suggest that Mr. Biden is the only Democrat who can speak to the concerns of the folks in Scranton.
Mr. Biden is among the most decent and selfless politicians around. He was a major player in the Obama White House and helped educate a young president on the ways of Washington. He’s made mistakes as a legislator, but he’s also had a long, honorable and distinguished career in service to this country. Why would he endanger that legacy when he can’t possibly win the nomination given where the Democratic electorate is these days?
I don’t think this mini-scandal about Mr. Biden’s encroachment on people’s personal space will be the deciding factor against him. He’ll be so paranoid about hugging people that he won’t touch anyone without notarized permission.
But even a more standoffish Joe Biden would be a man out-oftime in the 2020 Democratic primaries. Despite the tight grip he once had around its neck, time has passed him by.