They may have been disappointed but no one who has followed Biden's career was surprised that when the campaign let Biden off his leash and un-muzzled him that he would start lying and making gaffes. That's what he's done throughout his miserable career: lie and makes gaffes. Now that the general public is seeing what the insiders have always known, they campaign is desperately trying to put the toothpaste back into the tube. After a disastrous week in Iowa he's back in Delaware hiding from the public.Yesterday Amie Parnes reported for The Hill that Biden allies are floating the idea of altering the former vice president's schedule in an effort to reduce the gaffes he has made in recent days. The allies, growing increasingly nervous about Biden's verbal flubs, have said it's an approach that's been suggested to campaign officials on the heels of the former vice president's stumbles." Trump has been having a great time pointing out that Biden is almost as incompetent in front of a microphone as he is himself.They can't completely keep Biden away from microphones but, Parnes reported that his allies say that "Biden has a tendency to make the blunders late in the day... particularly after a long swing on the road, like he had last week in Iowa. They say something needs to be done to give the candidate more down time as the campaign intensifies in the fall." The old codger needs a nappie every day, say between noon and 4pm, if they're going to trick low-info Dems to support his primary bid.
"He needs to be a strong force on the campaign trail but he also has to pace himself," said one ally who has talked to members of the campaign team and others in the broader Bidenworld about how to move forward.The ally said it was unclear whether the campaign would make any changes to Biden's schedule, particularly because Biden was criticized recently for not doing as many events as his Democratic rivals."I think you'll see the same schedule and maybe even more Joe Biden," one ally said. "Everyone wants to see Joe Biden be Joe Biden. If he's held back in any way, that's almost the antithesis of who he is.""I think it's the wrong approach," the ally added.Biden's age-- he'll be 77 in November-- has been seen by some as liability ever since he launched his campaign earlier this year. While he has been billed by those around him as the most electable Democrat to take on President Trump next year, some wonder if he has the zeal to compete."A lot of people are nervous that he's lost some of his mojo," said one major Democratic donor. "They're getting nervous about him going toe to toe with Trump. But the problem is, there doesn't seem to be an alternative."For now, Biden's biggest opponent appears to be Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). A New Economist/YouGov weekly tracking poll published on Tuesday showed Biden at 21 percent, leading Warren by just 1 point. She has been narrowing the gap in other polls, too."In light of ascending candidates like Warren and [Sen. Cory] Booker [D-NJ. who seem to be getting a stronger voice, the gaffes give credence to voters on the fence about him even as Trump has normalized worse language in public discourse," said Democratic strategist Basil Smikle, former executive director of the New York state Democratic Party.At the same time, Biden retains a solid, double-digit lead over Warren in South Carolina, according to a survey from the Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston and Change Research.And aides say he doesn't intend to change his approach."Joe Biden has spoken his mind his entire life, which voters know and love about him," said Kate Bedingfield, Biden's deputy campaign manager. "He's a real person, he's authentic, and that will never change. He's going to keep taking on Trump and making the case to voters about the stakes we face in this election, regardless of how the press chooses to cover him."
That's the fatal flaw. Most voters don't know anything about Biden before Obama decided to balance his presidential ticket by picking the most conservative (and racist) Democrat he could find. Obama made him look plausible to voters who are unaware of the ugliest record of any Democrat still crawling around since the '70s-- a corporate whore, a crook, a warmonger, a moron, a mysogynist and a racist. People who know the real Joe Biden hate his guts. The only people who like him are conservatives, the people who make money from Biden, Inc and low-info voters who think Obama picked him for reasons other than ticket-balancing.Parnes listed as many of the blunders from last week as she could-- the calculated lie about meeting with the students from Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School while he was VP--an all too typical Status Quo Joe false narrative. "That gaffe," she wrote, "came two days after he told an audience of Asian and Hispanic voters that 'poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.' ... That same day, Biden also erred during a speech at the Iowa State Fair: 'We choose science over fiction. We choose truth over facts.' Trump has pounced on the gaffes, sensing an opening. He accused Biden of not playing with a 'full deck' and later took it a step further. 'Does anybody really believe he is mentally fit to be president?' Trump tweeted. 'We are playing in a very big and complicated world. Joe doesn't have a clue.'"The sycophants and profiteers around Biden-- who imagine themselves running the country if gramps wins-- are completely self-deluded-- or dishonest: "We always knew there was going to be extra scrutiny. We knew he was going to be held to a higher standard. But it's important to let Joe Biden be Joe Biden." Letting Joe Biden be Joe Biden is exactly what Bernie and Elizabeth are counting on.
