Biden’s leadership in the presidential race alone has not changed as much as he did when he received the nomination, and the last few days will help explain why.
Sudden Supreme Court vacancy: The former veep has refused to be drawn to the extreme issue that has provoked Washington, Twitter, the press and the Liberal Democrats everywhere.
Biden Real Clear Politics on average leads President Trump by about points, a little tougher than the margins that mostly stay around or or points while sometimes pulling in numbers (and yes, some war states are even more competitive).
Republicans on the press pound court vacancy, but the hypocrisy is widespread
He did not lose his lead during the epidemic. He did not lose it during the lockdown. He did not lose it during the protests and riots, which led many pundits – including me – to question whether he needed to speak out more strongly against urban violence.
Now some of this can be explained by the fact that Trump, who dominates the news, and Biden, who has been in politics for 47 years, are so well known. With the exception of the shrunken core of undisputed people who will probably decide the election in half a dozen states, the public opinion of both men is very determined in stone.
But in the wake of Trump’s rush to fill the seat of Ruth Bader Ginsberg – an attempt to secure certainty with Mitt Romney’s support yesterday – Biden relied on it.
Seeing that Trump’s move would be tempting to launch a hair-no-fire crusade, Bude worked with Barack Obama in a failed attempt to force Senate Republicans to vote on Merrick Garland.
And yet when Biden gave a nearly half-hour speech in Wisconsin on Monday, he did not even mention the Supreme Court.
“It was a clear indication of Biden’s belief that the majority of voters in Washington are not animated by the divisive fight that is eating so many people,” says the Washington Post.
I’m not sure the calculation is correct, but I do know that Biden sells himself as a calm and measured dealmaker, which will return to normal.
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Here’s what he told Mitch McConnell and company not to be pushed by Trump’s nominee six weeks before the election:
Politically the way things are in this country now is action and reaction, anger and more anger, sorrow and frustration. Republican senators have the same cycle of continuing if they go down this dangerous path. He is a G.O.P. He urged the legislators to “follow your conscience” and “de-increase” for “not going there”. Which had a definite zero effect.
It is now clear that Biden is having an impact on the news cycle, when Green Bay station WBA asked him about the court vacancy.
“It’s a legitimate question, but let me tell you why I’m not answering this question. Because it will focus. That’s what he wants. He never wants to talk about this issue at hand and he always tries to change the subject. Let’s say I answer this question, then the whole discussion will be about what Biden said or didn’t say, whether Biden said he will or not. “
And that’s true. Biden would have made headlines, Trump would have responded, and the Democratic nominee looked like another fighter in the swamp.
And besides, he would have lost. Trump is going to meet his MP, Amy Connie Barrett, at the high court once he announced his choice on Saturday. Biden will have wasted his political capital.
One of his goals in Scutus politics has been to remind voters that Obamacare is pending before the High Court, which is also raising the possibility of people losing insurance amid an epidemic that is their top issue.
Neither Biden has joined people like AOC, Ken Kennedy and Ed Markey – not to mention Jeff Tubin and Don Lemon – to urge Democrats to thwart Trump’s third justice if they take care next year.
Politico says, “For progressives, court-packing can be the new Medicare for all.
“JB Biden is on record as opposed to both amendments.”
Court-packing is not exactly reform, but some Democrats now grab a biased power that is justified in light of the GOP’s hard-boiled tactics. Biden did not get involved in the choir, and said he opposed court packing during the summer. An animal of the Senate, he does not like to break institutional norms.
This sounds like an echo of the Democratic primaries, when liberal critics rejected Bernie for defending the government-run healthcare backwards or later, the Defend-the-Police-Movement. Biden, not provoking the base, to be sure, but taking the discipline to resist jumping on the recent causes on the left.
And that’s why the race has been significantly stagnant.
