But the failures are glaring for a president who is now as unpopular as Trump used to be. Some of them are in style and messaging rather than in substance. Biden seems incapable of meeting the moment and articulating a vision that can inspire voters. He has pitched few compelling or workable solutions for the inflation crisis or other logistical failures — like the
baby-formula shortage. He allowed, along with Democrats in Congress, a potentially transformational child tax credit to expire after just one year. His reaction to the Supreme Court overturning
Roe v.
Wade was strikingly
detached and listless, with aides oddly unprepared for the generation-defining court decision. There was no subsequent plan of action, no federal strategy or detailed calls for local governments to mobilize for abortion rights. He belatedly called for the end of the filibuster to codify
Roe. By then, few were even listening.
One obvious problem for Biden is his age. He’s a poor candidate for 2024, because he’ll be turning 82 shortly after Election Day. Unlike other septuagenarians and octogenarians in American politics — Sanders and Warren in particular — Biden lacks the apparent vigor or drive to make an affirmative argument for what the Democratic Party should do for the U.S. Younger politicians are trying to fill the void. California governor Gavin Newsom is
running television ads in Florida to taunt Ron DeSantis and urge Floridians to reject toxic culture-war policies. Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker
wants to be a leaderon gun control. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer has
risen to prominence for her staunch defense of abortion rights in the wake of
Roe’s death. And in Georgia, Warnock, both a senator and charismatic pastor, may be a serious presidential contender if he can survive Herschel Walker’s challenge in November.
