maraleia: I agree with your sentiments here. My only worry is that everything with Biden seems stage-managed to the nth degree and has been for years.

It’s legitimately amazing no donor would give their name to call Biden old or forgetful.

Amazing the Olivia Nuzzi story can’t get a single person to go on the record, and the strongest evidence against Biden’s mental health is he didn’t remember her name.

Maybe *she* forgot who did.

She said she worked on this story for months! And it's pretty clear that basically nobody was willing to talk to her, and the only people who did are giving vague descriptions that don't have much of a factual record around them.

I agree with your sentiments here. My only worry is that everything with Biden seems stage-managed to the nth degree and has been for years.

He has been. It’s both and benefit and weakness because it’s minimized bad press but also not bought him much goodwill with the press.

I don't understand why he won't do Oval Office addresses. Why they are always in those two other places in the WH other than the State Dining Room for awards ceremonies and official dinners. Also, his current WH staff is the B-team and you can feel it via the messaging that's released by them.

That’s a weird modern trend, Obama only did three from the Oval. Trump only did two.

Not using the trappings of the office in an effective way is a bad choice. The Oval is the most recognizable part of the WH.

I think it’d be good if he did but at the same time people are complaining that proves nothing because there’s a teleprompter. Just incredibly tedious.

Biden has never visited the WH press briefing room to answer reporters questions in 3.5 years. That's a problem.

It is. He’s also done press conferences, taken questions on airport tarmacs, on the White House lawn, etc.

But only one or two questions and hardly any follow-ups. I'm being realistic here.

I've yet to see anyone other than McCarthy (:-/) who's met with him privately and said there were concerns.

I get it but when Brian Karem (who has worked as a WH reporter for decades) says that the Biden administration is the least candid about anything that's a problem. Brian is also the first one to say most of the DC press corps are incompetent at their jobs.

There's every reason to believe each successive Democratic administration will be less candid than the last, because they do not benefit at all from being candid

I know and it sucks.

I hear you, but the incentives for dems to be candid with the DC press corps have fallen dramatically over the last 16 years.

I know but from what I remember Clinton's and Obama's WH team controlled their schedules a lot too and siloed themselves away from the press corps in many instances.

I wonder how much of that is just press corp frustration that dem admins are not as leaky.

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