Joe Biden Has A Problem. But The Media Isn't It

I have spent most of my online time over the weekend arguing with supporters of President Joe Biden. Many of them objected to my piece arguing that Biden's performance during the ABC News interview was the worst case scenario for Democrats. It wasn't terrible enough to amp up pressure on the President to resign. But it also wasn't impressive enough to convince skeptics that he truly could campaign and govern in a way that would allow him to win in November.

Biden supporters have a number of complaints about the current state of the race, but a primary focus are the complaints that the "media" (however you define that) is focused on his debate performance. Instead, they should be reporting on Donald Trump, his numerous lies during the recent presidential debate and all of the reasons why voters should vote for the the Democrats in November.

To be clear, the default complaint for any unhappy American in 2024 is that it's the media's fault. And certainly, reporters and news organizations regularly make bad decisions or cover stories in a way that is out of the proportion to the problem. That is to be expected, journalists are human and they have the same flaws as everyone one else.

What I am less convinced about is that the media's decision-making process is part of some larger secret agenda. I don't believe the mainstream media is controlled by George Soros anymore than I believe the media is secretly pushing Trump because they believe it's good for business. We're all just trying to do the best we can, and when you see a lot of journalists and outlets covering a story the same way, perhaps the wisest response is not to claim there's a conspiracy, but to try and parse out why a disparate group of professional contrarians are moving in the same direction.

I have had a number of people in recent days argue that the press should have covered Donald Trump's flaws as aggressively as they have Joe Biden's. All I can say is that knowing what I know about the media, if Trump had a similarly catastrophic debate night, the non-conservative media would have reacted the same way as they did to Biden's performance.

Not just because Biden looked dazed and detached from the debate. But also because his performance played into real concerns some Democrat voters have had about Biden's age and ability to govern. The media didn't invent those concerns out of thin air. Their coverage has reflected genuine worries from voters, politicians and donors.

Another complaint Biden supporters have is that discussing Biden's health detracts from the real challenge of defeating Donald Trump in November. To be honest, the complaints veer sometimes into whataboutism territory, but even when it doesn't, I have two responses that I believe are reflected in a lot of media coverage.

First, on some level it doesn't matter what Donald Trump is saying or what he might do. The issue is Joe Biden's ability to perform his Presidential duties at a peak level. Because independent and undecided voters are not going to respond to "Sure, our candidate is damaged goods. But he's still better than the other guy!"

There is a universe of blue voters - likely 46-48% of the likely voters - who will vote for whomever has the Democrat presidential nomination. They'll probably vote for someone they have real doubts about, because the alternative rightly scares them.

But the Biden campaign needs more than that to win, and if anything has become clear in recent days, is that the campaign has done little to persuade undecided or skeptical voters he is still worth voting for. 

Democrats love facts and figures. And many of us talk ourselves into believing that if we can just find the perfect datapoint, the argument will turn in our direction. The problem is that voters are human beings and that means they are creatures with preconceived notions. They can be driven by emotion and what they "feel" about a candidate.

So arguing that Joe Biden is just fine because he has made 18 appearances in the last ten days is certainly true. But it's also true that in this context "appearances" covers a lot of ground. A bit less than two public appearances a day during a heated campaign - especially when you need to be out there reassuring skeptical voters - is the minimum for what most candidates would do in a similar situation. And I don't think Biden supporters can point to one appearance in that group that might have changed any minds. They have certainly helped reassure solid supporters. But that's not enough and it's fair for the media to report that.

Democrats also love to shrug off complaints by highlighting some other strength of the party. I am seeing a lot of party pundits on cable TV news and in political news outlets arguing that Biden's weaknesses can be overcome by the party's ground game. Which is a bit like arguing that your band's terrible new single will be successful because the group has a really great sound system.

There are also a lot of comments from party pundits along the lines of "look at everything Biden has done so far." And I agree, those accomplishments deserve to be highlighted. But this competence question isn't about what he's done so far. It reflects concerns some voters have about what he can accomplish in the future. Including whether he can win in November.

I have had numerous Biden supporters ask me why the media hasn't done more stories demanding Donald Trump withdraw from the race. It's a fair question, but I think there are two really solid responses.

First, if Donald Trump had as noticeable a change in behavior as Biden did during the debate, then they would definitely have been pushing those stories. It's true that he lied numerous times and made factual mistakes. But his overall performance wasn't out of character and that matters.

The second part is that I think there haven't been calls for Trump to withdraw b/c it feels like political performance art. He's going to run no matter what & his base will stick with him. The time spent constantly insisting he withdraw takes away from the coverage of the things the public need to know and can hopefully have an impact on in November.

Blaming the media is a intellectually lazy response. It wasn't the media who kept revealing conflicting stories about why Biden's debate performance was so horrific. It wasn't the media who thought having Hunter Biden contributing to meetings was a great idea. It wasn't the media who said that the President needed to nap more or not do events after eight p.m. And it wasn't the media who decided to say in an interview that if Biden lost in November, everything would be okay as long as he felt like he did his best.

The anger towards the media comes from the same place as the anger directed towards those of us who worry Joe Biden might not be able to win. We worry about what might happen if he has a similar public incident in October, when there is no time to recover.

None of this is fair. Joe Biden has been a great president and has a long record of public service.

But what matters now is what is best for the country. Not what is best for Joe Biden. What matters is that Trump loses. And for a lot of reasons, enough voters doubt that right now that I honestly don't see how he gets through this.

I'll vote for the Dem no matter who it is. But suggesting everything would be fine if the media would just shut up isn't helping Biden and it certainly isn't helping us beat Trump.