* “(Joe Biden) has the character and the experience to guide us through one of our darkest times and heal us through a long recovery. … The Republicans occupying the White House and running the U.S. Senate are not interested in progress. They are interested in power.” That was former President Barack Obama, in endorsing his former vice president.
It won’t be enough, however, if the former president can’t foment hope-and-reset among minorities and young voters. They’ll be asked to get behind a candidate who is not charismatic like the eloquent, history-making Obama–nor as enthralling as the ideological guru that is Sanders.
* While Biden still polls better than Trump right now, he does have a disturbing deficit online. His YouTube subscribers total just 32,000; Trump has more than 300,000. Biden has less than 7 million followers on Facebook and Twitter; Trump has more than 100 million. It matters.
* It still existentially boggles the mind–how we keep reading references to Bernie Sanders’ supporters who are just not inspired by Biden, and, as a result, can’t be counted on voting for the presumptive Democratic nominee. It’s no malarkey that Biden doesn’t necessarily “inspire,” but, yes, Trump should necessarily frighten. Isn’t that rationale enough?
* “Mr. Sanders lost the nomination, but he’s winning the battle of ideas–and the Democratic Party’s future.”–That was Republican strategist Karl Rove. No, it’s not a compliment.