The Big Picture – 
By Glynn Wilson – 

CATOCTIN MOUNTAINS, Md. – Camp David was designed as a presidential retreat not just from the heat and humidity of Washington. FDR actually commissioned it and called it “Shangri-La.” It was and remains a no press zone.

It’s understandable why any president would want to keep out CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, who are now both under fire for not holding Donald Trump accountable for lie after lie in his live, on air circus performance with Joe Biden in Atlanta Thursday night.

Perhaps in retrospect, Biden’s campaign staff of Ron Klain, Anita Dunn and Bob Bauer – not the same staff that ran the successful 2020 campaign – might have invited some reporter (like me) in on the preparations for the so-called debate to property test the president’s readiness to take on Trump on television.

Or they could have brought in a tough, no nonsense guy like James Carville to challenge Biden to see how well he was prepared to take on the new Trump in 2024, the untethered Trump who is more wide open crazy than the one who still slept in the White House in 2020.

Much has been written and will be written about this campaign moment in the days and months ahead, depending on the extent to which it effects what happens to the country in November. But before I summarize the inside story on what’s happening even today at Camp David, let me just say that the Biden campaign took the exact wrong approach to taking on this Trump.

Yes, hindsight is 20/20. But imagine if instead of trying to recall and recite facts and figures from the State of the Union Address, Biden had realized all he had to do was smile and sluff off Trump with funny one liners and thus make him look like the fool he is.

The only memorable line Biden delivered, and it didn’t land hard enough, was saying Trump has “the morals of an alley cat.” And there was the weak: “You’re a whiner.”

If the staff had been fully prepared, and realized what they were up against, there would have been a boat load of these one liners ready to deliver at every turn. Where were the writers at Camp David coming up with this stuff? Biden should have borrowed some comic writers from Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, or hey, Jon Stewart has come out of retirement and is back at the Comedy Channel. Why was he not invited to Camp David?

If this had been the approach, we would not still be waiting on the Biden’s to make a decision on whether to remain in the presidential race on Monday. The entire mediaverse, including Fox News, would have been talking about how Trump looked the fool and Biden would have jumped five points in the polls by now.

Instead, this is the headline in the New York Times.

Biden’s Family Tells Him to Keep Fighting as They Huddle at Camp David:
President Biden is trying to figure out how to tamp down Democratic anxiety after last week’s disastrous debate performance.

Before the attack dogs who are “Ridin’ With Joe Biden” no matter what attack me anymore on Facebook, let me say two very important things: This was not a “debate.” It was never going to be a debate about the facts. Half the country believes all politicians lie, and Trump is their liar-in-chief. He’s on their side on the issues, so that’s why all the nonsense talk from Trump doesn’t bother them one whit.

This was always going to be a circus. If the Democrats are so goddamned smart, like they claim to be, why didn’t someone up on that hill realize this?

Second, yes, Trump’s every utterance was a lie, as all the stories pointed out. But that’s not the point. Modern political campaigns are not about the facts. Nobody cares about the facts anymore. Cable news talk doesn’t care about the facts. It’s the impression on TeeVee that matters. So when the press called the debate a “disaster” five minutes after it happened, they were right. It was a “public relations disaster,” when what matters is the overall impression of the candidates, not what they are saying or trying to say.

Trump looked strong and healthy as he delivered the same nonsense he’s been saying for the past eight years. Biden came off as an old, feeble man who may not make it through a second term if he were to win one. And that’s why the media called him the loser.

All he had to do was stand there and make fun of Trump and he would have been the big winner. The talking heads would have loved him for it. He could have won in a landslide.

If he and the First Lady and his family and staff decide to remain in this race, that will be their decision. He could still pull it out. But it’s still too close to call and will not get any better anytime soon.

It was Biden’s decision to call for this debate. It was played by his rules. And he fumbled it. Sorry Democrats. But that’s the truth.

I think the New York Times Editorial Board might have reacted a bit hastily when they called for Biden to step aside. But there seemed to be and are good reasons to consider this. Again, the decision will be Biden’s to make. Not the Biden army on Facebook.

NYT: To Serve His Country, President Biden Should Leave the Race

Historical Analysis

For historical analysis and comparisons sake, two examples come to mind.

We didn’t officially find out that Ronald Reagan had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s until after he left the White House and moved back to California. But many of us watching and writing about it in those days suspected as much. Nancy Reagan had to help him get around and protected him from anyone who might get close enough to find out the truth.

Jill Biden now has this role to play with Joe.

Videos show this behind the scenes. Anyone can look them up on YouTube.

The question for the American people is this. Is a Biden second term really what’s best for the country? Or is there some other Democrat who could step up and not only win, but run the country for the next four years?

The party bench does not look so deep to me as other commentators have suggested. I’ve got two names for you. Barack and Michelle Obama. But Michelle will never allow it. So that’s out.

The other example from history we might look to is what happened to Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

On October 2, 1919, Wilson suffered a serious stroke, leaving him paralyzed on his left side, and with only partial vision in the right eye. He was confined to bed for weeks and sequestered from everyone except his wife and his physician, Cary Grayson. Bert E. Park, a neurosurgeon who examined Wilson’s medical records after his death, writes that Wilson’s illness affected his personality in various ways, making him prone to “disorders of emotion, impaired impulse control, and defective judgment.”

Anxious to help the president recover, Tumulty, Grayson, and the First Lady determined what documents the president read and who was allowed to communicate with him. For her influence in the administration, some have described Edith Wilson as “the first female President of the United States.”

By November 1919, Wilson’s “recovery was only partial at best.” His mind remained relatively clear; but he was physically enfeebled, and the disease had wrecked his emotional constitution and aggravated all his more unfortunate personal traits, according to historians.

Throughout late 1919, Wilson’s inner circle concealed the severity of his health issues. By February 1920, the president’s true condition was publicly known. Many expressed qualms about Wilson’s fitness for the presidency at a time when the League fight was reaching a climax, and domestic issues such as strikes, unemployment, inflation and the threat of Communism were ablaze.

In mid-March 1920, Lodge and his Republicans formed a coalition with the pro-treaty Democrats to pass a treaty with reservations, but Wilson rejected this compromise and enough Democrats followed his lead to defeat ratification.

No one close to Wilson was willing to certify, as required by the Constitution, his “inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office.”

Though some members of Congress encouraged Vice President Marshall to assert his claim to the presidency, Marshall never attempted to replace Wilson. Wilson’s lengthy period of incapacity while serving as president was nearly unprecedented; of the previous presidents, only James Garfield had been in a similar situation, but Garfield retained greater control of his mental faculties and faced relatively few pressing issues, historians say.

Despite his medical incapacity, Wilson wanted to run for a third term in 2020. While the 1920 Democratic National Convention strongly endorsed Wilson’s policies, Democratic leaders refused, nominating instead a ticket consisting of Governor James M. Cox and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The Republicans centered their campaign around opposition to Wilson’s policies, with Senator Warren G. Harding promising a “return to normalcy”.

Wilson largely stayed out of the campaign, although he endorsed Cox and continued to advocate for U.S. membership in the League of Nations. Harding won the election in a landslide, capturing over 60 percent of the popular vote and winning every state outside of the South. Wilson met with Harding for tea on his last day in office, March 3, 1921. Due to his health, Wilson was unable to attend the inauguration.

Democrats must ask themselves if this is what they want to face over the next four years. It’s not up to me. It’s not up to you. It’s up to the Bidens. What path will they choose?

___

If you support truth in reporting with no paywall, and fearless writing with no popup ads or sponsored content, consider making a contribution today with GoFundMe or Patreon or PayPal.