Joe Biden’s campaign dropped a new vid yesterday:
Donald Trump is erratic, unstable, and dangerously incompetent. Every day that he directs our national security is a dangerous day for the United States. pic.twitter.com/aGUxe4ItmQ
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 9, 2019
It’s pretty good. The screen cap is only an orange hue away from complete perfection, portraying Trump (accurately) as a bloated, braying ignoramus. It seems calculated to wound Trump’s vanity. Good.
The ad also highlights Trump’s shameless sucking up to autocrats and stiff-arming of allies. That’s messaging that is surprisingly effective across party lines, according to the battleground state focus groups the Obama Bros of Pod Save America have been conducting. Again, good.
And finally, the message underscores Biden’s experience and relationships with leaders and institutions around the world, which is a genuine advantage he has over competitors. It lifts Biden up without shitting on Democratic opponents. Also, good.
So far, I’ve regarded the Biden candidacy as a heaping tureen of unseasoned lima beans, i.e., something I did not order, do not want and will not enjoy, but also as a menu item that is infinitely preferable to other options, such as the platter of unwashed, e. coli-infused pig rectums that is the Trump presidency.
So, my expectations of Biden aren’t super high. But this ad clears that bar with room to spare. And Biden does seem to be adjusting to new realities. In interviews over the last couple of days, he moved off an earlier vow not to mention Trump’s (corrupt AF) adult children, citing nepotism in the current administration as the reason he’s proposing a ban on family members making money overseas.
At times, Biden has come across as not fully aware of the shit-tsunami barreling toward him, not only from the corrupt POTUS and DOJ but also from his old Senate colleagues like Lindsey Graham, who once blubbered about what a good person Biden is and now hurls his old friend under the bus to appease Trump. The impeachment trial in the Senate is going to make the GOP House Benghazi shit-show look like a “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” singalong. Maybe Biden realizes that now.
Regarding the impeachment timeline: my theory is that Pelosi’s decision to keep the scope of the inquiry narrow and push it over to the Senate soon is based in part on the fact that Trump and the GOP are running a Biden-focused projection defense, falsely accusing Biden of the crimes Trump, his cronies and his hell-spawn have committed.
There are decent arguments for decelerating the impeachment process and drafting more articles, but it makes sense to factor the larger political landscape into it. Maybe Pelosi figures it’s best to find out how well Trump’s preposterous corruption attacks work against Biden now. It’s not fair, but she’s probably right.
Open thread.