Donald Trump and his ilk have spent weeks trying to sell the public that presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has cognitive problems that made him unfit to be President. They desperately have tried to get the moniker "Dementia Joe" to stick.
It was a stupid strategy on so many levels. The so-called evidence of the former Vice President's mental
Then you have the No. 1 rule of politics, do not lower expectations for your opponent. After all the effort to cast aspersions on his mental acuity, pretty much all Biden had to do was show up and not slobber during his convention acceptance speech and he would clear the bar Trump had set.
Last night, the old man did a lot more than that during his speech. He turned on a 95 mile per hour fastball and drilled it into the upper deck. Even Biden's most ardent supporters were stunned. They didn't believe he had it in him.
In a pitch perfect speech, Biden outlined that the election is about the soul of a nation, what type of country people want to live in. This is how Biden began his speech:
Good evening.
Ella Baker, a giant of the civil rights movement, left us with this wisdom: Give people light and they will find a way.
Give people light.
Those are words for our time.
The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long. Too much anger. Too much fear. Too much division.
Here and now, I give you my word: If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us not the worst. I will be an ally of the light not of the darkness.
It's time for us, for We the People, to come together.
For make no mistake. United we can, and will, overcome this season of darkness in America. We will choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege.
I am a proud Democrat and I will be proud to carry the banner of our party into the general election. So, it is with great honor and humility that I accept this nomination for President of the United States of America.
But while I will be a Democratic candidate, I will be an American president. I will work as hard for those who didn't support me as I will for those who did.
That's the job of a president. To represent all of us, not just our base or our party. This is not a partisan moment. This must be an American moment.
It's a moment that calls for hope and light and love. Hope for our futures, light to see our way forward, and love for one another.
America isn't just a collection of clashing interests of Red States or Blue States.
We're so much bigger than that.
We're so much better than that.'
Later, Biden turned to Trump's failure to be a leader as this country faces a public health crisis.
Our current president has failed in his most basic duty to this nation.
He failed to protect us.
He failed to protect America.
And, my fellow Americans, that is unforgivable.
As president, I will make you this promise: I will protect America. I will defend us from every attack. Seen. And unseen. Always. Without exception. Every time.
Near the end, Biden's speech turned to Trump's America-Last foreign policy:
I will be a president who will stand with our allies and friends. I will make it clear to our adversaries the days of cozying up to dictators are over.
Under President Biden, America will not turn a blind eye to Russian bounties on the heads of American soldiers. Nor will I put up with foreign interference in our most sacred democratic exercise -- voting.
I will stand always for our values of human rights and dignity. And I will work in common purpose for a more secure, peaceful, and prosperous world.
Biden brilliantly wove his life experiences into speech. He came across as real human being who could empathize with the problems of everyday Americans. That's what Americans want from their President.
Biden's speech and the other speakers at the DNC convention could have dwelled on the typical liberal Democratic wish list that many Americans do not support. Instead they went for the middle, reaching out to suburbanites, moderates and disaffected Republicans. They are trying to grow, not narrow the coalition that appears poised to win the White House and Senate for Democrats.
In other words, what the Democrats did this week was smart politics. I have never seen the Democratic Party so united and so reasonable.
OOP's short takes:
- It appears Qanon is becoming a bigger and bigger headache for the Republican Party. The crazy conspiracy theory claims is a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles in the government and media that can only be stopped by President Trump. Given a chance to denounce the conspiracy theory, Trump praised Qanon supporters for loving their country and supporting him. (In Trump's mind that is probably a redundancy.) What is perhaps more troubling is that, given the chance to denounce Qanon, most Republican officeholders chose not to do so. Meanwhile, Qanon candidates are starting to win more and more GOP primaries.
- Postmaster General Louis DeJoy appears to be backing off changes that could have delayed the delivery of mail-in ballots. Not sure whether the change in tone is due to the public backlash or GOP officeholders begging President Trump to stop denouncing the use of mail-in ballots, which voting option has for decades favored the Republican Party.
1 comment:
Paul,
Overall I think your analysis is on target. I have no doubt that the Democrats will go loony left sooner rather than later if and when they get the White House back. That being said the Democrats did a remarkable job of avoiding disaster at their convention. The biggest problem we saw with the whole dementia attack on Biden. Is that almost nobody other than people who are already going to vote for Trump, is EVER going to believe that Biden is as unhinged as Trump. For every gaffe Biden makes Trump makes 20! Even a lot of Trump partisans, including his son Donald, Jr said that Biden spoke well. If you watch the video you can see Laura Ingraham struggling to downplay Biden’s speech. The best she could do is attack Biden for allegedly supporting outsourcing of jobs. Problem is that most of the current unemployment rate has nothing to do with outsourcing, and to the extent it does people affected by that would be more likely to blame the incumbent Trump rather than the Challenger Biden. Trump only knows how to run as a grievance candidate. But since he is the incumbent President if he tries to play up what is wrong, rather than building up his positives he only hardens opposition to him. You get re-elected by making people feel comfortable with you, more than by making people hate your opponent.
IR
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