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Dave Weigel Profile picture
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19 Mar, 4 tweets, 1 min read
The issue was that Biden's opponents went all-in on it and lowered the bar so that when Biden showed up and did fine in a debate (both the final one w Sanders and the Trump ones) he shattered expectations.
It was odd as a *campaign issue* bc Biden happened to be running against two fellow old guys, one (Sanders) who beat a heart attack, one (Trump) whose doctor insisted he had superpowers.
Also the fast pivot to conspiracy theories tends to help Biden by making the criticism sound crazy. Before he did "Stop the Steal," Ali Alexander had a whole campaign insisting that Biden secretly had Parkinson's based on an analysis of him walking.
1976: LOL, Gerald Ford fall down go boom

2021: My EXCLUSIVE analysis of Biden's stumble reveals that he was replaced three weeks ago by a Soros-trained actor. Please donate to find out more

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More from @daveweigel

Dave Weigel Profile picture
9 Mar
My theory here is that the most easily mocked Biden traits - he's an old guy who forgets stuff and repeats catch phrases - has too much overlap w Trump's attack lines and comedians don't want to indulge that
Also one of Biden's go-to remarks is about missing dead family members, the "hole in your chest," etc, which is not comedy gold
It's pretty clear that SNL writers regret building up Trump in 2015 and making so much fun of Hillary, which explains their light touch on Warren and inability to find a Biden gag
Read 4 tweets
Dave Weigel Profile picture
4 Mar
*writhing in pain like a T-1000 dumped into molten metal*
The Casablanca franchise. The Casablanca franchise! I want to drive a car off a cliff
Casablanca: ORIGINS, starring Alden Ehrenreich as Rick and Miley Cyrus as Ilsa
Read 4 tweets
Dave Weigel Profile picture
26 Feb
"The left, of course, does hate the bill of rights," Sen. Mike Lee says. "Why? Because the bill of rights says what things the government can't do." #CPAC2021
Lee giving a mini-lecture on constitutional history. It's the usual Lee role at CPAC - this year it's part of a series of Constitution speeches running through the weekend. #CPAC2021
Lee says "the people of California are recalling their governor" because "they can enjoy a 5-star meal at the French Laundry but they can't go to church."

(The recall isn't set yet; petitioners have 1.8 million signatures, while Newsom won in 2018 with 7.7 million votes.)
Read 4 tweets
Dave Weigel Profile picture
26 Feb
I was just thinking about this at CPAC; when was the last time that a defeated president held total control over his party, and the sitting president didn’t? Democrats see Biden as an ally who needs to be pushed on some issues, they don’t take cues from him.
The main GOP critique of Biden is right: He used to be more moderate and has evolved left, leading a party that’s moved even further left, and he’s not in control or that. Compare to Trump, who’s gotten the party to abandon debates or policies it had for years.
Anyway, I had the thought at CPAC because Biden *won the election* but I cannot imagine going to Netroots or something and seeing half the crowd decked in Biden merch.
Read 4 tweets
Dave Weigel Profile picture
23 Feb
I'm here for this @alex_shephard take on bad Sunday shows, but I really think the problem is how short the interviews are. Anybody can stick to talking points for seven minutes, the old format that yanked news out of people pinned them down for 30. newrepublic.com/article/161460…
Get rid of the panels - it's just a roundtable repeating what everybody said on cable that week - and get the interviews long enough to make people sweat.
Podcasts have been popular for, what, a decade? How is it taking this long to rethink the idea that viewers won't pay attention to one long interview?
Read 4 tweets
Dave Weigel Profile picture
21 Feb
Looking back at this week, most significant development in "what the GOP stands for" is probably Romney-Cotton endorsing a minimum wage hike "while ensuring businesses cannot hire illegal immigrants." That's European party of the right energy nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
"Welfare state and higher wages, sure, but not for illegal immigrants" is the territory Rs have carved out post Trump. That's a climb-down from "welfare state, no," the pre-Trump ethos.
Do it yourself, take a look at the arguments and amendments flying at the Democrats' most popular bills. You rarely see one without a GOP effort to make Democrats vote against denying benefits etc to "illegals," which in campaign ads will become "they voted to give illegals" etc.
Read 5 tweets

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