A Taste of What Waits for Candidate Biden In the General Election

What will happen when these two meet on the debate stage?

by Thomas Neuburger

After the third Democratic primary debate, Julián Castro was widely criticized for suggesting that Joe Biden might be disturbingly forgetful — "Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago? Are you forgetting already what you said two minutes ago?" he asked in a thinly veiled reference to the rumors that Biden is becoming senile.

Here's that moment (trimmed for brevity):

The negative response was immediate, putting Castro on the defensive and forcing him to claim the remarks weren't "personal." (Of course they were; there's no other way to take them.)

But the problem with criticizing Castro for these comments is that Trump will do so much worse to Biden if Biden becomes the candidate. In another context, when Pete Buttigieg criticized other candidates for using debates to score points against each other, Castro responded, "That's called an election!"

True enough. What charges will come from Trump, and in what form, if Biden is the Democratic nominee? Can Biden withstand them?

The GOP Attack

We now have a preview of what Trump's attack might look like. This is from a YouTube channel called "GOP War Room," and as strident as it is, it's nothing compared to what's really coming Biden's way.

Imagine the effect that flooding the nation with this kind of material will have in the general election. Imagine what the actual Donald Trump will do with this line of attack when he faces Biden directly. I'm not sure Biden will keep his old name "Sleepy Joe" — Trump may well change it out for something much more biting, much more "on the nose."

If I were Biden, I would expect nothing less from the Trump campaign than a vicious, constant and all-out attack on my mental faculties. If Biden verbally stumbles in the polite confines of the recent Democratic debate stage — as indeed he did — how will he behave in a two-hour cage match with Donald Trump, or a two-month blood feud with his campaign?

The Electability Question

It's often asserted that Biden is the most electable of all the Democratic candidates. Don't believe it. Given his mass of vulnerabilities — including and especially his tendency to verbally wilt in public when under no pressure at all — Biden may well be the most likely to lose to Trump, and by the greatest margin.

Something to consider if you're a pro-Biden Democratic operative, or simply a voter looking to rid herself of the current White House resident. It may simply not be true that "any D will do." Some Ds may not do at all.