Sometimes, surprises come out of left field. In the United States, the coronavirus has come out of left field. And it has changed the American presidential race. Richard Wolffe writes:
All the way back in mid-February, Donald Trump brushed aside the coronavirus as “very much under control in the USA”. That was just two days after Bernie Sanders won his breakthrough victory in the Nevada caucuses, putting him on course to a commanding lead as Super Tuesday approached.
But this is not the same political country it was last month. In the short span of a couple of weeks, American voters have traveled a very long way. If the coronavirus sweeps across the country as the experts predict, that journey will only accelerate, reframing this year’s elections in profound ways.
Tuesday’s primaries confirmed the extraordinary transformation of Joe Biden’s campaign, from almost dead-man-walking to almost dead-certain nominee. There are almost no similar cases of a candidate bouncing into such a wide lead in such a short time.
It's beginning to look like the dead man walking will be the Democratic nominee for president:
Trump’s entirely botched response to the coronavirus pandemic has only intensified this electoral choice. Instead of simply voting for the most electable candidate, Democrats are now voting for the most competent president. In that context, there is vastly more reason to trust a former vice-president than an insurgent outsider.
According to CNN’s exit polls, nearly 60% of Democratic voters in Missouri said they trusted Biden to handle a crisis, compared with around 25% who said they trusted Sanders. In Michigan and Washington state, the numbers were not much better for Bernie.
Other polls underscore how powerful this case is for Biden in his likely general election against Trump. In a recent national poll of registered voters of all parties, Biden beats Trump by 16 points on the question of who would do a better job of handling a crisis, while Sanders is ahead by just six points.
Trump isn't a bright man. But he was bright enough to know that Joe Biden was his most dangerous political rival. What Trump didn't understand was that it was he himself who was his most glaring weakness.
Image: New York Post
10 comments:
At his age, Biden's got a 1 in 5 chance of dying if he contracts coronavirus. Time for him to retreat to a "secure location" and let Trump continue to shake hands with all those CPAC and AIPAC attendees.
Cap
And "The Chosen One" believes he doesn't need to be tested, Cap.
America's Democratic-Socialist crowd are understandably frustrated but they would be easily as frustrated if Bernie won the White House. Americans still have no appetite for a "bottom up" revolution. That's a pipe dream. Bernie could sweep the Electoral College and still be powerless to overcome America's "bought and paid for" Congress. Obama came to office with far more political capital than Bernie could ever hope to match and yet his political agenda was crushed on the rocks of Congressional intransigence. Sanders would wind up even more isolated, marginalized.
Bernie has been the torch bearer for a reformation America badly needs but he's not the guy to see it through. America's social-democrats will need to find someone younger to carry on in Sanders' footprints.
Exactly, Mound. Americans need a revolution. But Bernie isn't the guy who will deliver it.
Trump should have listened to Dick Nixon.
“People react to fear, not love; they don’t teach that in Sunday school, but it’s true.”
Or even to himself.
“Real power is — I don’t even want to use the word — fear.”
If I was scared shitless of something, I'd wish I had a better choice for a saviour than Sleepy Joe. Maybe now some are realizing that they should have been, and still should be, more afraid of Trump than any pandemic. In ay case, I accept that Joe is much less scary. That should do it.
Joe is far from perfect, John. But he possesses character and experience. Trump possesses neither.
A serious problem with Sleepy Joe Biden, among many others, is that he seems to be showing very worrying signs of cognitive decline in several ways, but especially in his verbal behaviour.
I have long thought this of Donald Trump but it is much more evident with Biden. Trump is incompetent at governing and at most other things but, at the moment, he is still able to make mincemeat of Biden in a campaign.
If Biden were to win I do not think he is capable of functioning properly in office. Ten years ago yes, for some US value of competence, but now I am extremely dubious.
I understand your concern, jrkrideau. On the other hand, while Biden has always had the capacity to put his foot in his mouth, it's clear to me at least that he knows something about how government should work.
@ Owen Gray
it's clear to me at least that he knows something about how government should work.
My concern is that he no longer does. That he did, certainly. Now I worry. here is a post showing Mr. Biden in action. Clearly it is a bunch of clips, so subject to the usual caveats but it is not encouraging. Stop Calling It A “Stutter” : Here Are Dozens Of Examples Of Biden’s Dementia Symptoms. The author is Australian which may explain the rather blunt title.
More generally can you think of a country with as strange and warped electoral system?
I admit that I'm embarrassed that the United States is being run by aging baby boomers like me, jrk. It's time for the next generation to step up. One can only hope that the next generation in the Democratic Party is able to exert its influence on Biden.
And, no, I can't think of an electoral system that is more skewed than the present American system. You'd have to go back to the old "rotten boroughs" of Britain to find something akin to it.
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