TPM Reader JS is done with purity politics …
I understand all of the criticisms against Biden. OK. He’s handsy. Klobuchar is a rough boss. Bernie might have earned some money on a book. All of these stories about Dem candidates exist in people’s brains at the same time we’re talking about a President who is on tape talking about “grabbing pussies” got made famous by firing people and who’s entire claim to fame is being rich (I can’t stand Bernie or his bros, but how on earth can this “now he’s a millionaire” story matter one bit post-Trump?)
If Democrats can’t push back as a group on behalf of all of their candidates against these “Al Gore Flannel/Obama Tan Suit/Flag Pin” stories, we will lose. How can that era of political story writing still exist and how can it exist only on one side? It’s not just that Democrats are a circular firing squad, it’s that the rationale of using this process to inoculate the eventual nominee against general election type attacks is irrelevant. Someone has to just start saying “Trump, Trump, Trump” every time one of these stories runs.
And despite a bunch of people making self-fulfilling predictions against him trying to shoot the moon with an Obama 2.0, Biden is still ahead in the polls and still doing the best head-to-head against Trump.
