Also: yes, there was a poll suggesting that 60% of Americans backed Mr Trump’s handling of the crisis and yes, that does seem quite a thing. But as the veteran pollster Stan Greenberg pointed out, the “fatalistic chatter” in the wake of the poll was well wide off the mark. In fact, in swing states that Biden must win in November, he is well ahead. He is on course to install his wonky teleprompter in the White House.
Second, though: panic.
The crisis has exposed, for many Democrats, the horrible deficiencies of the contest they have just held. Mr Biden is no Obama. His only genuinely enthusiastic supporters tend to be black voters in the south, many of whom like him because he took instructions — gladly and faithfully — from a black man. But is that enough?
He says he will appoint a woman as his vice presidential pick. But why? Possession of a vagina might have seemed vital in the far-off days when identity politics were a thing and coronavirus mentioned at the end of the news. But now? How about possession of a medical qualification? Or a proven ability to run something. There are women who fit the bill of course, but they made no headway during the campaign. This person needs to be ready to run the country: how odd for a centrist to limit the choice to make a woke point that no longer needs making.
And Mr Biden himself? He has never in his life run anything. Not a town. Not a state. Not even a collapsing and obscurely leveraged casino chain. And here some panicky Democrats are shifting their gaze to the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has become the anti-Trump star of the coronavirus outbreak with a constant daily outpouring of executive decisions and an equally high-profile string of barbs aimed at the White House.
Some Democrats are swooning. Could Mr Cuomo not be drafted in at the last minute? “America’s Governor” in the same way Rudy Giuliani became (briefly) “America’s mayor.” His father Mario was the great hope who never actually ran for president. Might history come calling on the Cuomos?
I doubt it. The practicalities are too tricky. But the very fact that the question is being asked is a measure of how uncharted these waters really are.
There is another worry for the Democrats’ panicky brigade. What if the President is just a little bit right? Right enough to harvest a political boost just as the autumn comes?
Frankly it does not seem likely. But this is a president entirely comfortable with spending borrowed money. This is a president entirely at ease with unorthodoxy. A healthcare election might force Trump (finally) to come up with the healthcare reforms he promised before 2016.
And before that? Well, this is a president who in some respects is voicing the worries of millions of Americans for whom the crisis seems still distant.
America is a huge nation. But also — because of its size — a small one. Many Americans live isolated lives, particularly Republicans who inhabit the great rural expanses rather than the big cities. A catastrophe in New York is an event on the news, little more. Put crudely: this pandemic is affecting urban Democrats more than rural Republicans.
America is also — sad to say — a nation in which reported facts are distrusted to an unnerving extent, with consequences that are not always predictable. An example from my life: a good friend was coming to London from San Francisco recently and asked if we might meet.
“Coronavirus?,” I emailed. “Are you really coming?”
His response: “we can have a good discussion about Media Induced Hysteria.”
Here is the point: he is a Democrat. A Left-wing Democrat. And one of the cleverest people I know. I assume he saw the coronavirus reporting on the media he watches and reads, but did not believe it because he knows that the reporters (like him) cannot stand Trump. The media landscape in the US today is Putin-like: flooded with nonsense nobody believes to the extent that even reliable reports are discounted. There is no impartiality. No truth.
Into this world, a strong communicator with a steely focus on healthcare and a bag full of ideas could make quite a splash. Is Joe Biden that person? It may not matter. A disaster might be about to engulf America.
But if disaster is averted, the Democrats could be left with a broken teleprompter in a Delaware basement as the metaphor for this presidential campaign, and the world will be open-mouthed at the mess they have made of finding a treatment for Donald Trump.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribeThis seems to be yet another anti-Trump rant by a media stalwart. They won’t give up, will they? As Trump has pointed out, many US states have only a handful of people with the virus, and I believe some states have seen no deaths. Even a state as large as Texas is relatively unaffected. New York is the worst hit, partly because its leaders and health commissioner were still encouraging people to go out and party until very recently. Blame them for the deaths, not Trump.
In fact, the US has little more than twice as many dead as the UK, which is remarkable given the respective populations. Even the Netherlands now has over 400 deaths, which is very high relative to the US.
I have just watched Sean Hannity conduct a 30-minute interview with Trump. The president was lucid, open, and, as usual, correct about almost everything. His approval ratings are through the roof, something that the disgraceful, biased media simply cannot understand. Nor can they understand why so many of us have simply ‘walked away’ from the MSM.
And now Biden is being accused of sexual assault back in the early 1990s by Tara Reade, who was on his staff at the time, The fact is that the Democrats had three years to come up with a plausible candidate and policies to take on Trump. Instead they pursued hoax campaigns around Russia-gate, Cavanaugh, the fake and wicked impeachment etc.
Then they came up with Biden, a guy who doesn’t even know what day it is and who has corruptly and openly enriched almost all his family while in office. Moreover, they could have gone for Andrew Yang or Tulsi Gabbard, two reasonably plausible candidates. Instead, they threw Gabbard under a bus and accused her of being a ‘Russian asset’ because she is opposed to all the wars. The Democrats are truly evil.
Could you back up this statement with some facts or references, “as usual, [Trump is] correct about almost everything”? Seems a statement like that warrants some validation.
Justin, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at your” Second, thought: panic.”
Yes the DNC has very good reasons to panic as they have a melting ice cube for a nominee and a quasi Marxist as a back up ; what could possibly go wrong ? Biden is clearly not playing with a full deck and is not far from the movie ”one flew over the Cuckoos nest ” Hello, I’m Joe Biden but I have no idea why I’m here ” ?
The DNC will never allow this disaster to happen ; if you were familiar with Dem political history you’d see there is a precedent for this dire situation ; as Mark Twain wisely noted ”History may not repeat itself but it often rhymes ” Back in the tumultuous summer of 68 president Johnson had dropped out of the race so they shoe horned his VP, Humphrey, into the convention without winning any primaries ; if Biden quits the race then his delegates are free to vote for whoever they chose ; the Dems made their byzantine rules and can change them when they see fit, so I can easily envision Andrew Cuomo becoming the Dem nominee ; naturally the Sanders supporters will not like that one bit but the convention will likely become televised with electronic voting so they wont get the chance to run riot like what happened at the 68 convention in Chicago
I am convinced that the American rate of deaths will jump very shortly, because of the inequalities of the health system. Both Democratic candidates have health problems. Both may be unable to go forward as Presidential candidates
Best comment so far, IMO. Two things: being of a pessimistic turn of mind, I’ve worried about a pandemic for some time, but I worried about one starting in the USA with its divisions between rich and poor, and large homeless underclass, denied basic hygiene facilities. Second, surely this will expose America’s crazy preoccupation with septuagenarians: Trump, Mrs Clinton, Saunders, Biden. What happened to the idea of still-vigorous younger man, like Clinton, GW Bush, or Obama? I understand why there’s a lower age limit for the Presidency (full disclosure: I’m 58 v soon). Perhaps it’s time for an upper one as well?
Still vigorous Bill Clinton ? Have you seen him recently . He is more wobbly than Biden.
“Trump risks lives?” Get a grip. I am no Trump fan, much less an apologist for his administration. But on COVID-19, he has assembled a formidable group of experts – including the eminent epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauci – and he is listening to them.
Trump Derangement Syndrome is a seriously pernicious pandemic, making otherwise sane people descend into irrationality.
Could the Democrats not, at their conference or whatever its called, agree to nominate Michelle Obama as their candidate? For the good of the country and the world, she has to do it! Not so good being already the wife of a former President, but anyway, the most liked and admired woman in America could easily win. Everyone knows she smart enough, she’s seen how it all works, familiar with all the issues, very popular. Michelle for President! Biden & Sanders are hopeless.
Justin,
You avoid any mention of Biden’s wandering hands, hands which fondle women’s bodies and, notably, the bodies of innocent little girls, 13 yo or so.
He kisses them, plays with their hair, touches the little ones’ chests, all on camera.
https://youtu.be/_pgG9mDxRNQ
or :
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
IMO, groping is not a quality to be sought in a President of the US of A. What’s your take ?
OK, you scrubbed my post, that is your privilege and, sometimes your duty. The link I attached was to a bad site, that fellow makes Trump’s posts look cultured and I apologise for the error.
But – are you suppressing revelations about Biden’s wandering hands and lttle girls ? Looks like it.
Links such as these are not going to disappear anytime soon and there are so many of them :
https://youtu.be/DwXweiRjckI
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
https://youtu.be/kCf2Nfd9iCc
https://youtu.be/kCf2Nfd9iCc
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
https://youtu.be/DAUOurZIVfI
https://youtu.be/-iSAh3haVtY
https://youtu.be/qTWlIWRe0VQ
https://youtu.be/_H5NJZMDumY
https://youtu.be/ZEC0eRFQvLw
https://youtu.be/7S-3KnMwS48
On the other hand, Trump would be laughing if Biden is his opponent for the election,no doubt about it, is there ?
America has a President who has been analysed with dementia and needs an MRI scan and removed. He said this virus would go away by miracle and was not to be taken seriously. As a Canadian I am sad Americans have such a dangerous man as President and many take him seriously.