Biden Won't Give Up the Keys Yet

The Stephanopoulos interview showed a selfish president in denial

President Biden’s interview with George Stephanopoulos was bad, but unfortunately, it wasn’t bad enough. We needed him to stammer and lose his train of thought, as embarrassing as that would be for a decent man and a fine president.

We needed him to be worse to end this misery and get on with the exciting ticket of Kamala Harris and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, or Harris-Beshear, Harris-Shapiro, Harris-Landrieu, or Harris-Someone we haven’t thought about yet. Or better still, a well-regulated but open convention, as I’ve advocated since the night of the debate.

We’re likely to end up with a different nominee, but it may take longer than it should. Democrats are genuinely divided on this and waiting for someone other than “The Lord Almighty” to intervene. Maybe “Bruce Almighty” (Jim Carrey) could help.

I don’t feel bad about wishing Biden ill in this and what will have to be more interviews in the next few days. In the meantime, his selfish and narcissistic side showed up in Madison, Wisconsin, where, by the way, his crowd was loud but small.

Yes, it’s terribly unfair that Biden’s terrific record isn’t better known, but blaming the press is just a waste of time now. The task at hand is for someone to explain to Biden that he will be a pariah of history if he loses. They won’t even talk to him in Delaware.

This part at the end of the interview shows a president who is clueless:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: “And if you stay in and Trump is elected and everything you're warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?”

PRESIDENT BIDEN: “I'll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that's what this is about.”

No, Mr. President. That’s not “what this is about,” even if you did the “goodest” job you could.

This is about protecting the country from a vile dictator, not your bruised ego. It’s about democracy, not you getting credit for some legitimate accomplishments. It’s about fixing infrastructure in the future, too, not acting as if you alone can fix it.

Sorry, but you asked for that last one. I think you’re better than this kind of Trumpist selfishness, which was supposed to be your main campaign theme, but that is now, as Nixon’s press secretary, Ron Ziegler, once put it: “inoperative” because you cannot run a selfish campaign against selfishness.

I wish George S. had asked whether you believed Harris could not also beat Trump. And he might have quoted you describing yourself five years ago as a “transitional figure” who was only running because you were the best candidate to beat Trump.

Except that you aren’t anymore. You’re way behind in polls you pretend you don’t read, and you “don’t think” that you watched the debate but …what? Do you not remember for sure?

I understand why you would be pissed at someone like Senator Mark Warner, who is trying to strip you of power. (And anyone who doesn’t think this is about power is wrong).  But when you said, “He also tried to get the nomination too,” that was not just senior-style redundant but a cheap shot. Warner briefly ran for president in the 2008 cycle but dropped out for family reasons in 2006, 18 years ago.

It’s telling that Biden is so deep in denial that beyond saying Warner is a “good man,” he couldn’t acknowledge that people who want him to withdraw have anything other than crass, self-interested political motives.

Maybe that’s because that’s what his motive is now: Political survival at all costs. Until God tells him otherwise.

Or Jim Clyburn, who said that Biden had a “poor performance” at the debate, calling it “strike one.” “If this were a ball game, he's got two more swings,” Clyburn said.

Strike two came on Friday at WURD radio, on a show with a friendly Black host. Biden called Trump “one of our colleagues, the former president” and then added, “probably shouldn’t say, at any rate,” before being inarticulate in several more ways.

Strike Three isn’t too far off. Seniors can have good and bad days, but the bad days always come. There’s no “recovery” from an aging brain, especially when you refuse to undergo a neurological exam.

My sense from the interview is that Biden is in deep denial, and no one on his staff has the balls to even play devil’s advocate in internal discussions.

Or even replicate a conversation many or most have had with an aging parent. Yes, it’s harder because Biden truly loves driving that Corvette, but even he will face this conversation someday:

CHILD: Dad, this is a hard conversation to have, but I don’t think it’s safe for you to be driving anymore. You’re an excellent driver, and we all appreciate how you drove us to all those track meets. You did a good job recently driving the grandkids to swimming. But after what happened at that intersection last week, it’s time to let Kamala or someone else take on the load.

DAD: Bullshit! I’ve been driving since I was 14. They didn’t have that 16-year-old law when I was growing up. You could be 11 and drive if you could see over the steering wheel. And do you know how many tickets I’ve gotten in the last 67 years? Exactly four. And they were all before 1978. See, I remember the exact year. You gotta admit that’s not so bad. I remember the year and the cop who gave me the ticket. How about that?

CHILD: Dad, it’s true that you haven’t gotten any tickets lately, but you came within four or five inches of hitting and maybe killing that kid when you hit the gas instead of the brake. This happens a lot. You’re such a great dad. Do you want to be remembered for that, or for putting some kid on a bike in the hospital — or worse?

DAD: I’ll stop driving when the Lord Almighty tells me to.

CHILD: And if Nancy and Chuck and Hakeem tell you, and the insurance companies cancel you?

DAD: You know how I feel about insurance companies and what they charge for insulin, which is so important to seniors.

CHILD: We’re getting a little off-topic here.

DAD: Look, the fact of the matter is, I’m not like one of those gun nuts who says, ‘You can have my gun when you pull it from my cold dead fingers.’ You’re not going to have to pull the keys from my cold, dead fingers.

CHILD: Just think about it.

DAD: OK, I owe it to you to think about it.

CHILD: And you owe it to that kid on the bike.

DAD: I do.