Dem
51
GOP
49
Speaking from the Oval Office, Joe Biden addressed the American people yesterday for the first time since deciding to drop out of the presidential race. Here is the speech, if you didn't see it already (or you can read a transcript here):
He spoke for 11 minutes. The executive summary: It was... OK.
The President had three things he wanted to accomplish. The first was to "explain" why he dropped out of the race. And his explanation was that he decided he needed to "unite [his] party" and to "pass the torch to a new generation." That's certainly part of the explanation, but it omits a fair bit of the story, as well. In particular, right wingers are hopping mad that Biden did not say anything about his health.
The second goal was to convey what he plans to do with his remaining time in office, and to talk about what has already been accomplished. If Biden was going to openly urge people to vote for Kamala Harris, this is when he would have done so. He kept it a touch more subtle, however, declaring: "I would like to thank our great vice president, Kamala Harris. She is experienced, she is tough, she is capable. She's been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country." Although it's legal for a president to engage in electioneering from the Oval Office (because the president is explicitly exempt from the Hatch Act), Biden and his team clearly decided that being too overt would be in poor taste, and an abuse of the platform he was being given.
The third goal, which got the lion's share of the verbiage, was to warn the American people that democracy is at risk. He was not terribly specific as to WHY it is at risk; viewers get to fill in the blanks for themselves. Biden did not mention his immediate predecessor by name, though he did mention George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Maybe the rule was that you had to win the popular vote in order to make the speech.
Anyone who already believed that Biden has declined significantly will find affirmation of their views in his performance. The President tripped over his tongue roughly half a dozen times, despite reading from a teleprompter. The stumbles were probably due to his stutter. However, it is now well established that Biden skeptics do not really distinguish between "stutter" and "evidence of dementia."
Beyond the tongue-tied moments, Biden's delivery was a little flat. That is not too surprising; it can't be easy to summon up enthusiasm for giving up the presidency. The language of the speech endeavored to be poetic and inspiring, but didn't hit the bullseye. And the White House still hasn't solved the problem of positioning the teleprompter so that the speaker can read while also looking at the camera. And so, Biden was sorta looking at the viewing audience, but not exactly, which is just a tiny bit unsettling.
It was at least plausible that if the speech had been a Kennedy- or Reagan-style home run, it might have given Harris a little bit of a boost. But as it is, we don't think it will have much impact, one way or the other. (Z)