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GOP
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It is customary for the sitting president to deliver commencement speeches at two or three commencements each year, and yesterday the White House announced which universities will be graced with the presidential presence this year: Morehouse College and West Point.
The thinking in choosing Morehouse could not be more plain. Polls say Biden is struggling with Black voters, and the school is an HBCU. Further, it's in the key swing state of Georgia. That is known as killing two birds with one stone. The White House would never say it openly, of course, but the President also doesn't want to get near any university that's having unrest and protests centered on the situation in Israel. Hundreds or thousands of students and faculty members marching around with signs and chanting slogans while Biden is trying to speak would not be great optics.
Unfortunately for the administration, while Morehouse might not have the same demographic profile as a Columbia or a Berkeley, it's still got some strife over the events in the Middle East. Quite a few faculty and students are displeased that Biden is coming to campus, and there's some pressure on the university administration to rescind the invitation. That is not likely to happen, nor is Biden in a position to back out, what with the announcement having been made. So, he might end up with those lousy optics after all.
As to West Point, it just doesn't get any safer than that. Even Donald Trump, whose presence might well have triggered riots at 90%+ of the nation's universities, was able to speak there. There is just no way that a whole bunch of folks who are on the cusp of receiving their commissions would dare show disrespect to their commander-in-chief, particularly while they are under the watchful eye of a bunch of senior officers. So, if Biden can get through the Morehouse appearance (May 19), then it's smooth sailing at West Point (May 25) and then he will keep his fingers crossed that 3 months of summer break will serve to dissipate tensions. (Z)