So sadly, Joe, you gotta go

As last night's Presidential Debate drew to a close, one thing became abundantly clear:

Joe Biden is no longer capable of defeating Donald Trump.

Biden's debate performance
is cause for concern

There are serious discussions this morning, I'm sure, as to whether Joe Biden is even capable at all.

As convicted felon/business fraudster/sexual abuser Trump confidently spewed lie after lie (after lie), Biden looked feeble and confused as he listened, wide-eyed and mouth agape.

He appeared not unlike the actors portraying dementia patients in many of those commercials for Alzheimer's medicines. That's not hyperbole.

And when it was Biden's turn to talk, his words were sometimes unintelligible, his comments frequently changed course mid-stream, most times his answers didn't end with a clear and defined point. And he even occasionally froze as his mind stumbled for a word or a thought.

Which is amazing for a couple reasons: 1) the debate was on Biden's terms--a friendly network with rules and terms proposed by Biden's campaign, and 2) for more than a week, Biden was in isolation with a team of experts as he prepped for the debate. 

And it wasn't enough. Not even close. Which is genuinely cause for concern--both for a presidential candidate and for a man in his 80's.

This wasn't the Biden of the 2020 Presidential Debate (in which he addressed Trump's constant interruptions with "Will you shut up, man?"), nor even that of his State of the Union address in March (with the insightful and forceful proclamation about Jan. 6: "You can't love your country only when you win"). 

No, this was the performance of a man who was exactly as he appeared, feeble and confused.

It was a performance of a man who provided little reason for crucial undecided voters and Trump-haters to give him their votes. It was the performance, too, of a man who certainly didn't even engender confidence from those in his own camp--in a post-debate interview, his Vice-President Kamala Harris tellingly didn't say Biden's debate performance was an aberration.

This was a performance that, if you're a Joe Biden fan (or possibly even if you're not), was painful (and so very sad) to watch.

So, despite Biden's relatively successful tenure--navigating around a highly expected recession, garnering bipartisan Infrastructure and Semi-conductor-production bills, continuing low unemployment, increases in both manufacturing and energy independence, gains in minority wealth, meaningful legislation for US veterans, and even post-Covid US inflation that is WAY below that of the rest of the world--Joe Biden just doesn't seem capable of a second presidential term at age 82.

And that's not only sad for Joe Biden, it's sad for the country, as well.

 

A thorough and cutting take on Biden's debate performance from James Poniewozik at the New York Times here.