Here is today’s headline in the Washington Post’s Early 202 newsletter:
This is one of Trump’s best political weeks
That is the conventional wisdom. The Supreme Court lifted his 14th Amendment burden—unanimously!—on Monday. Tuesday will be…Super. He’s performing better in the polls than ever before. The Biden campaign is stuck in Gaza and floundering on the border.
But I wonder…
This has been the story for a while now. Trump tough, Biden doddering. It’s gotten boring, predictable, horrifying. Here’s a prediction: It will not last. The media have a chronic case of ADHD. We flit from take to take. News is not called Olds for a reason. The story changes…and if it doesn’t change of its own accord, your friendly commentariat—ever in the market for a new insight (or we’re out of business, put to pasture)—nudge it in a different direction.
And so, Joe Biden is due for a resurrection. The signs are there. The first salvo comes from the estimable Evan Osnos who has written a classic New Yorker profile of the President. Biden comes across as tough, smart, every bit there mentally and, yes, effective. The piece will have a ripple effect in the usual manner. It will be read by media heavyweights, who will think: Hey, he’s not so bad. Maybe we’ve been too tough on him. And it will be read by the Democratic funders and insiders, the hand wringers and bedwetters, who will be buoyed and reinvigorated. The effects will trickle down to the populace.
The piece is not perfect. It bends toward the way-too-nice. There are few blind sources with damaging quotes; the staff is worshipful. (The loyalty of Biden’s staff is both a strength and a weakness—he isn’t challenged enough.) I’m still waiting for some reasonable explanation for why Biden has done absolutely nothing about the border crisis, which may be the most important issue in the coming campaign. There is no sign of Kamala Harris—not even the requisite, “He’s taught me so much!” quote. But Osnos makes the most important case: Though frail, Biden is all there. He is not suffering from dementia. He’s gotten bipartisan things done in Congress that, arguably, no other politician could have accomplished. Experience does matter.
And there are additional signs of life in Bidenland. The aforementioned Harris gave a tough, important speech about Gaza over the weekend. It may not have broken new ground, but her call for a cease-fire now was passionate, a strong signal to Bibi Netanyahu—and perhaps a precursor to a stronger statement by Biden in the SOTU (as I speculated yesterday).
And then there’s this…
Yesterday, I proposed that Democrats start kicking Trump in the teeth—and resumed that quest again today in an online conversation with Frank Bruni, which I’ve posted below. Turns out, according to Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire, Biden may be having similar thoughts:
“President Biden is privately pushing for a much more aggressive approach to 2024: Go for Donald Trump’s jugular,” Axios reports.
“Biden is convinced he’ll rattle Trump if he taunts him daily.”
“Biden has told friends he thinks Trump is wobbly, both intellectually and emotionally, and will explode if Biden mercilessly gigs and goads him — ‘go haywire in public,’ as one adviser put it.”
“Other sources tell us that Biden is looking for a fight.”
Now, for the caveats…A Biden resurrection will last as long as he doesn’t stumble, literally and figuratively. It could be quashed in the crib if the State of the Union is a dud. And the worm will continue to turn. The story will change. The fortunes of Biden and Trump will ebb and flow. That is how politics works.
Is Sanity Fit to Print?
As mentioned above, I had a fun online conversation with Frank Bruni of the Times presiding and Olivia Nuzzi of New York Magazine—my ancestral roost—participating. You can read it here.
This is a busy week. I’ll be posting again after the State of the Union…and John Ellis and I will have another Night Owls podcast over the weekend. So you might consider becoming a paid subscriber to Sanity Clause or if you’re a newcomer, try us for free. Push this button:
I won’t pretend to any expertise in the ways of news journalists, although my observations are consistent with yours. I do, however, question whether a shift in the overarching journalistic take will necessarily “trickle down” to the electorate. Maybe, to some extent. But the Fourth Estate’s agenda-setting power may not be what it once was.