Communicator-in-chief? Not anymore
The first presidential debate of 2024 made it clear that Joe Biden is no longer up to the task and should step aside. The president's failure to communicate sent an unmistakable message to all.
The presidential debate last night between Joe Biden, seeking a second term, and Donald Trump, the convicted felon who amazingly will seek another term as his party’s candidate after a blessed four-year hiatus, was a tour bus crash to end all crashes for Biden.
The President of the United States is the commander-in-chief, overseeing a military with capabilities so immense it could obliterate the planet with a single order. With such overwhelming responsibility, then, the president must have the requisite skills to also be called the communicator-in-chief.
The 81-year-old Biden entered the debate stage shuffling, stiff-legged, a semi-stunned countenance whose pallor came as a bit of a shock, frankly. It got worse. His first words were halting, difficult to make out, raspy – he may have been asking for a little more milk in his tea rather defending his record on the planet’s largest economy for all we know.
Biden, as his loyal staffers will undoubtedly argue, may be very capable behind the Resolute Desk, but it’s his capability behind the microphone where presidents must shine, like the court of law vs. the court of public opinion argument we in comms often, and rightly, make. Biden’s ability to communicate was the acid test.
The result was that unless the Democrats move quickly to replace Biden on the ticket for this November’s election, Donald Trump will once more be the clown-in-chief of the United States of America.
A presidential debate is an exercise in communicating, persuading, pulling those still on the fence into your camp. You must be sure-footed, knocking down your opponent’s rhetoric with unmatched mental acuity. Trump’s unhinged ability to lie – “falsehoods” as the New York Times consistently and infuriatingly call his lies – was never in doubt, from questions about January 6, his recent 34 felony convictions, denying having sex with Stormy Daniels, talking about “Black jobs,” whatever the hell those are, indifference to the opioid crisis and climate change, to claiming abortions routinely occur at eight and nine months, even after birth, was patently outrageous. Biden’s counterpunches barely registered as swats.
The focus last night shifted, whiplash and all, to the clear and ever-present danger of Biden being on the ticket this fall. Standing at the podium, staring into space as though in a state of catatonia, he is, today, a meme machine in overdrive. When he spoke, much was incoherent. Trump’s incessant lies were a pesky noise, absurdly enough, to Biden’s obvious and shocking frailty. Americans should be asking themselves how they can vote for either of these two men, both so obviously unfit to be president.
Biden’s age has been an issue for some time, shifting to all caps now with klaxons and flashing red lights for good measure, one would hope. Ageism is an ugly “ism,” but when both Biden and Trump, who is 78, began to argue last night about who was the better golfer, it became farcical. It was like an SNL sketch with two old men in rocking chairs sitting on a colonial porch sparring over the sweetness of the lemonade or the Dodgers and the Yankees, with only an afternoon nap to look forward to.
Biden did improve, ever so slightly, as the night wore on, citing the “malarky” coming from Trump, as though it were the 1940s. But the stage was set in the first 10 minutes. It’s a now a where-were-you-when moment in American politics, with group text messages exploding as friends and family sought assurance they weren’t alone in what they were witnessing.
The Democratic Party have a crisis on their hands and until they accept it - and act - it will only continue to crater . Biden’s utter failure to be seen to be capable, never mind being capable, is all that matters now, not the audacity of Trump.
Allow Joe Biden the dignity of stepping aside in favour of a candidate who can beat Trump (they are legion, surely) for the good of the party and the love of the country - and the planet, if I can speak for the planet. I’ll do it pro bono.
The job of president is communicator-in-chief. Joe Biden is no longer that man. I feel sorry for him, but the job is bigger than any one man, and one day, surely, any one woman. People are beside themselves about Biden’s inability to communicate and be presidential because the alternative, the liar-in-chief and convicted felon still facing three other trials on three separate indictments, came into ever sharper focus as a real possibility come November.
Isn’t it ironic, Alanis, that a failure to communicate sent the clearest of messages last night? Not like rain on your wedding, ironic, real irony. May those with the power of persuasion, and Joe Biden’s good ear, move swiftly.