In today’s edition of “Is Joe Biden Losing the Narrative,” we are pointed to his long-awaited return to the Sunday talk shows. He went on Face the Nation yesterday and was confronted with some recent polling showing that his once-massive lead in the Palmetto state had all but evaporated and even his support among Black voters had been cut in half over the past month. Host Margaret Brennan then pointed out that South Carolina was supposed to be his firewall, in large part because of his strong minority voter support, and asked if that was no longer the case. Amazingly, Biden responded by saying that he’d never said South Carolina was his firewall. Huh? (Free Beacon)
“South Carolina was your firewall,” Brennan said.
“You’ve said it [sic] my firewall,” Biden replied.
“The campaign has said it’s your firewall,” Brennan said.
“No, that’s not right,” Biden said. “I’ve said I’m going to do well there, and I’ll do well there, and I’ll do well beyond there as well.”
Biden has explicitly called the state his firewall. In a Feb. 2 interview, for example, he told MSNBC, “I think I have a real firewall in South Carolina.
As you can see from that excerpt, it took no time at all for the media to produce examples of Biden calling the state his firewall. Why try to deny it now?
This brings me back to an observation that I believe was first made here by Allahpundit but remains relevant to this day. If this were any other candidate in the field we could probably just write it off as a typical politician telling a lie to make himself look better on national TV. But given his recent history, is it possible that Joe wasn’t lying and that he has simply forgotten saying that on multiple occasions?
I’m not a medical expert in any way shape or form, and perhaps this was just a ploy on Uncle Joe’s part, but the pattern on display has become more than worrisome. Whether it’s believing he was once arrested in South Africa absent any proof of such an event or telling supporters in Iowa how great it was to be in New Hampshire, Joe Biden seems to have evolved past the stage of simply making gaffes.
Having lost a mother who slipped away from us into dementia, perhaps I’m just overly sensitive to such things. But these types of lapses do appear to be common in such cases. Then again, perhaps it’s just the occasional “senior moment” that we’re seeing. If his doctors say that he’s fine, we should probably take their word for it, at least for the time being.
Biden went on to blame Tom Steyer for his shifting fortunes in South Carolina. But that’s not entirely clear either. It’s true that Steyer’s relentless advertising campaign in that state has boosted him up to double digits and he’s currently running third. But that doesn’t come close to accounting for all the ground Biden has lost. Back in September, Bernie Sanders was polling in single digits there. But as of last week, one poll had Biden’s lead over Sanders down to only two points and another one had them tied. at 23% each. Steyer may have stolen a little of Biden’s thunder, but it’s mostly Sanders who has made inroads. If Joe isn’t careful, he could wind up coming in second and letting Bernie bag yet another upset victory.
Uncle Joe is now down in South Carolina and campaigning hard, along with the rest of his competition. Personally, I’ll just be waiting to see if he tells anyone how great it is to be back in Nevada.