It wasn’t long ago that Joe Biden was on top of the world. Written off in New Hampshire in February as politically finished, Biden staged a stunning turnaround with back-to-back wins in South Carolina and on March 3 Super Tuesday. From out of the running in February to presumptive nominee three weeks later, for a while in late winter, Biden had the wind at his back.
Today, he’s dealing with headwinds, the velocity of which may be increasing.
Joe Biden has a #MeToo problem.
If you’ve been distracted by the coronavirus shutdown and aren’t up to speed on the story, here’s a summary. A woman named Tara Reade worked in Joe Biden’s senate office in 1993. In an interview that she gave in March, Reade said that during the period when she was working for him, Biden pushed her against a Senate office building wall and sexually assaulted her.
Since the story broke, friends of Reade have come forward and offered recollections of Reade telling them about the assault at the time. A tape has emerged from back then of Reade’s mother calling Larry King’s radio show and telling of her daughter’s problems with a “prominent senator.”
The media reaction to this story is, so far, a tiny fraction of that attendant to very similar allegations against then Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. But that’s not to say that there is no reaction. Biden is finding himself pressed on the issue more than he would like. And, of course, he denies Reade’s allegation.
Women have a right to be heard. And the press should rigorously investigate claims they make. I’ll always uphold that principle. But in the end, in every case, the truth is what matters. And in this case the truth is the claims are false.”
This week, the problem for Biden became a bit thornier. In a piece Sunday, New York Times opinion writer Elizabeth Bruenig said that it’s time for the Democrats to have a “Plan B.” Said Ms. Bruenig:
Cavalier dismissal of Ms. Reade’s story… runs the risk of advancing misconceptions about sexual assault and its aftermath. This is collateral damage that Democrats — who have spent the last few years championing the #MeToo movement – should be loath to incur.”
The significance of a crack in the armor such as this – on the editorial pages of the reliably liberal New York Times – as it concerns the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, cannot be overstated.
This story layers itself upon simmering concern among Democratic Party elders about Biden’s mental fitness, and the increasing frequency with which he rambles, stumbles and loses his train of thought.
Given his delegate lead, and given the fact that Bernie Sanders and the rest of Biden’s one-time opponents have suspended their campaigns, it’s probably still accurate here on May 6 to refer to Biden as the presumptive nominee.
But, if the whispers are to be believed, the expressed need for a ‘Plan B’ isn’t confined to the opinion pages of the Times. Democrat leaders are quietly talking about it among themselves.