Thread by @ThePlumLineGS

Biden's refusal to back off of his comments on segregationists is badly undermining his ability to relitigate our racial past against Trump.

In his announcement, he said, "we have to remember who we are."

Well, he's suffering a memory lapse.

My piece: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…

Biden says that the Senate used to be a period of "civility," whereas now you're "the enemy."

James Eastland and Herman Talmadge literally depicted the civil rights movement as "the enemy" for years and years.

I dredged up some of their quotes here:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…

Here's the issue with Biden's comments.

If he's going to be the guy who relitigates our racial past against Trump, as his announcement video telegraphs, he's got to signal a recognition of the *full* history of the civil rights movement and the Senate:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…

A big question about Biden is whether his "electability" is supposed to involve racial and cultural signaling, as @jbouie noted.

The problem: In cases like this, we can't be *sure* this isn't what he's up to.

He must signal an awareness of all this:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…