Got accused of "amplifying" this year's "but her emails" "media conspiracy by pointing out the Biden is not running the kind of active campaign necessary to recover from the debate debacle on X.
Yeah it seems bad that the normal things a normal candidate would do to bounce back and move the news cycle past this (eg hold a bunch of unscripted town halls and interviews and bring big energy) he is *just not doing*
A sit down, live, primetime, interview with Oprah. The next day, a town hall where he took questions from voters. The day after that, a live press conference in the east room.
In other words, I agree with Max's analysis
If it's because he has a cold, and they're worried about the covid risks to his immune system, (which is completely valid!)
they needed a statement like "President Biden is focusing on giving the WH his best energy and will be back on the campaign trail when his stuffy nose is over".
And then a list of events booked for 5 or 7 days out. Like, if you want me to believe it's just low energy from a cold, act like it's just a brief short term issue and you'll be back after you stop needing a cough drop to be understood.
1) malarkey
2) the health concern is not valid imo, given the stakes. “I have a cold and therefore cannot fight against fascism” is a bad message even if it’s true, which it’s not.
3) it has been a week+ since the debate, plenty of time to heal up and get out there.
4) he could do virtual events
I don't think it excuses doing nothing, and it's way too late now that he's done nothing. But there was a moment right after the debate where he could have played off his difficulty speaking as being related to the obvious head cold and maybe we wouldn't be here now.
The problem is that he continues to do very little to win a reelection, and I absolutely DO believe that's because he's either wildly out of touch with our expectations and anxieties, or he cannot rise to the challenge of being more visible and cannot think his way into a different show of strength.
