For quite a while now, some of us have been trying to figure out who is actually running the country at the moment. It obviously hasn't been Joe Biden, a fact that should have been made clear during Thursday night's debate for those of you who still had some remaining questions.
Some have assumed that it might be a coalition of Jeff Zients and Ron Klain, along with a few other liberal policy wonks. Others have suggested that Barack Obama is still handling things from the background, a possibility that can't be entirely ruled out.
We may have gotten a better clue yesterday, however, after the Biden clan retreated once again to Camp David for a scheduled celebrity photo shoot and some private discussions. According to several sources, as the Bidens huddled together, it was Jill Biden and First Son Hunter who were pushing Joe not to drop out of the race and continue his quest for another term. Obediently, the President emerged from the meeting and announced that he would be staying the course, despite acknowledging that he didn't have "the best debate." (Which is akin to saying that the Titanic ran into a few problems on her maiden voyage.)
So it seems safe to say that we know who is calling the shots at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue these days. It's Jill Biden.
From Associated Press:
President Joe Biden’s family used a Sunday gathering at Camp David to urge him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite his dreadful debate performance, and some members criticized how his staff prepared him for the faceoff, according to four people familiar with the discussions.Biden spent the day sequestered with first lady Jill Biden, his children and grandchildren. It was a previously scheduled trip to the presidential retreat in Maryland for a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz for the upcoming Democratic National Convention.But the gathering was also an exercise in trying to figure out how to quell Democratic anxiety that has exploded following Thursday’s performance.While his family was aware of how poorly he performed against Donald Trump, they also continue to think he’s the best person to beat the Republican presumptive nominee.
It must have been a close call. If Joe Biden had woken up on Friday morning bound and determined to continue the campaign, he wouldn't have required any persuasion from his family. To be fair, he did make a few comments on Friday and Saturday about still being the "best person" to defeat Donald Trump, but he didn't seem all that emphatic. And while the trip for the photo shoot had been planned in advance, the family clan had clearly gathered together to discuss what the next steps should be after Joe's humiliating performance on Thursday night. (But hey... at least he beat Medicare, right?) If there was ever a moment where Jill Biden could have stepped up to the plate for the good of the country and put an end to this obvious elder abuse, Sunday was her golden opportunity. But she turned her nose up at that and pushed Joe to continue stumbling forward.
This trip to Camp David brings us back to the question I raised at the top of the article and I'm asking this in a serious fashion. Who has been running the country? Biden disappeared to Camp David for an entire week prior to the debate in the middle of two wars, a border crisis, a crime wave, and a ruptured economy. He made no public appearances and didn't address the press. His official schedule was empty except for practicing for the debate, an effort that turned out to be a waste of an entire week. Who was calling all of the shots at the White House during that time? It's bad enough that on the best of days, Biden typically only schedules one or two events and calls a lid by early afternoon, or sometimes even before lunch. But for a full week, he completely disappeared. It's as if the job of being president currently consists of virtually nothing except running for president. And he's not even doing very well at that based on the latest polls.
If Jill Biden is really making most of the calls at the White House, is it any wonder that the country is in such a perilous condition at the moment? She's not a politician or a policy wonk. She has never held or even run for any public office. She's a doctor, supposedly. I suppose you might consider her for a position at the Health or Education Departments, but her background doesn't prepare someone to be the leader of the free world.
One final thing to note is the amazing game of ping pong currently taking place among leading Democrats and the majority of the legacy media. By Friday morning they were almost all in full-blown panic mode, calling for Biden to step aside for the good of the nation and the party, though not necessarily in that order. Even the Morning Joe crew had run up the white flag. But now that Joe and Jill Biden have made it clear that Joe isn't going anywhere except for additional vacation time at Camp David, they are all pivoting back and beginning to talk about how they will probably have to stay the course and stick with Scranton Joe. If Biden won't release his delegates, it's not as if they have many options that won't leave them in an even worse position. Good luck to us all. We're probably going to need it.
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