Man, I Don't Know

 These last ten days have been just awful, right?

On the critical question of the day, I keep going back and forth. On the one hand, Biden has been a good - actually very good - president. He is also a bad candidate. He was likely a bad candidate in 2020 in many ways, but Covid restrictions likely hampered that. On the other other hand, Biden won precisely because he was Biden: loved by Black voters and deemed safe by White ones.

Is Biden non compos mentis? I really don't think so. The transcripts of the debate read just fine. 

Is Biden able to fulfill the president's role as voice of the country? I really don't think so. His stutter has left his mouth mushy and indistinct.

There is a long, long history of Democrats freaking out over their candidates. They freaked out over Clinton, they freaked out over Obama. It's a hallmark of Democratic Party politics: second guessing and requiring that their candidate be absolutely perfect in every way, of they will lose. It's understandable to be gun shy, given that Democrats have won the popular vote in every election but one since 1988, yet they've also lost in 2000 and 2016 (with disastrous implications). The stakes are so incredibly, incredibly high in November, that it's natural for Democrats to want some mythical savior to alleviate their worries. Biden's debate debacle feeds into precisely that worry.

Then there's the media. It's a feeding frenzy at the moment. To give an example, Stephanopolous asked about Senator Warner's efforts to get Biden to drop out. Biden chuckled that Warner was a failed presidential candidate himself. A few reporters suggested that this was a sign of dementia on Biden's part. In fact, Warner conducted an exploratory campaign in 2006 - all the trips to Iowa and New Hampshire - before failing to find traction and dropping out. If anything, this shows the acuity of Biden's memory...yet it is being spun as further signs of Biden's mental decay.

But then...if you give in to the media frenzy and Biden drops out - frankly if he does that, he should resign so that Harris gets the boost of incumbency - then the media will sharpen their knives for Harris. I 100% guarantee that they will be like sharks with blood in the water. They are nihilists with no apparent beliefs in the safety and future of the American experiment. 

It's incredibly easy to compare Biden's age to Trump's manifest unfitness for office. Yes, I'm concerned about Biden's age; I'm terrified of everything surrounding Trump. I will crawl over broken glass to vote for anyone over Trump, including the old guy. I don't care that Biden talks like he has a mouth full of oatmeal.

I wind up worrying though that many people do. However, I can also see people voting for the boring old man over the chaos of Trump, and some of those people are uncomfortable voting for Harris.

Then there is 2016. The fucking Times helped scuttle Clinton's candidacy by overblowing the email "scandal" at a time when Trump was floundering after the Access Hollywood tape. They are going to do the same goddamned thing to Harris. (And it will 100% be Harris if it is not Biden. Stop thinking there are any other alternatives.)

This horrible limbo from now until election day feels like being in free fall. In some ways, I just want the issue of Biden's candidacy resolved so I can panic about the next thing. Here's what I see happening, Biden is going to stay in the race unless:

- the Democratic establishment convinces him he's doomed.
- he has a health issue that forces him off the trail.

There are some rumors that Biden exhibits signs of Parkinson's or a similar condition. I can say that I saw him in a coffee shop in 2019 (maybe 2018) and he looked stiff and frail then, too. His movements are really poor. If it is a Parkinson's type illness, then he can back off his candidacy and resign with grace.

However, Biden is a guy who has been underestimated and sneered at his whole life. He's a fighter and this is the fight of his life. Does he understand how he's perceived, though, by his friends? Does he know there are other fighters?

Every day talking about Biden's age is a day wasted from attacking Trump's rank criminality and horrifying plans for his presidency. Hell, there are new Epstein documents that put Trump at the heart of that horror show, and no one is talking about it.

Biden has shown enough this week to get another week, but...time is running out in many ways.

I really, really do not know what to think.