Another man. A reinvigorated double. We could only be amazed when we observed Joe Biden, Friday June 28, speaking in front of excited activists in Raleigh (North Carolina). “I know I’m not a young man, that’s obvious…” Clamors interrupt him. “I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t speak as easily as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I know. I know how to tell the truth. I know how to distinguish good and evil. I know how to get this job done. »
Words spoken in a voice that was finally clear and firm, but sixteen hours late. Words absent at the decisive moment, the day before, during the overwhelming televised debate against Donald Trump. On Friday, Joe Biden did not need to use his memory, to concentrate on his rival’s lies, to develop an argument in his head. He read, coming alive thanks to the warmth of the audience. As he came down from the stage, the president was accompanied by a song by Tom Petty, I Won’t Back Down. I will not back down.
This sequence was successful but its impact remains very limited, even though nearly 50 million Americans had watched the debate the day before. It aimed to stifle the devastating doubt which has spread among experts and in the Democratic apparatus, since Thursday evening, about the physical and cognitive capacity of Joe Biden to be a candidate. The response was organized without much intensity. Party executives remained silent in public, themselves hanging on Joe Biden’s decision. The advisors assured that independent voters, with a decisive role, would be very offended by Donald Trump’s performance and his repeated lies.
Fear of the abyss
Then in the afternoon, it was Barack Obama, on X, who gave the line of defense. “Bad nights of debate happen. Trust me, I know. But this election remains a choice between someone who has fought his whole life for ordinary people and someone only concerned about himself. » The thesis of the bad evening seems out of place and even shocking after the shipwreck experienced by the president on Thursday. Above all, it testifies to the fear of the abyss under the Democratic feet, in the event of Joe Biden renouncing: what alternative in such a short time, what about the donors, how to preserve the unity of the party before the Chicago convention in August? These questions are complex but the solutions exist. The status quo represents a monumental gamble, a way of playing roulette for the future of the country, in a mixture of denial and vanity.
You have 66.59% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
