"Joe Biden's Sharpness," David Leonhardt, The New York Times

 

So much of Trump's energy is expended on normalizing a-holes, starting with his own vile self.

      

Joe Biden's Sharpness

By David Leonhardt Opinion Columnist

If you weren’t already familiar with Joe Biden’s life story and you were watching the Democratic debate last week, you might have been confused by something that happened near the end.

Biden was talking about people who come up to him on the campaign trail to tell him about their struggles, and he began imitating a child with a stutter: “The little kid who said ‘I-I-I can’t talk. Wh-wh-what do I do?’ ”

The imitation might have seemed insensitive and bizarre — unless you were aware that Biden himself dealt with a severe stutter as a child. Given that, I found it to be one of the most personal moments he has had in any debate.

It also reminded me that I’ve been meaning to recommend the recent Atlantic magazine story about Biden’s stutter to anyone who hasn’t yet read it. The article is by John Hendrickson, and it’s a powerful piece of writing that changed how I think about Biden.

Hendrickson also stutters, and he makes the case that Biden has not overcome his stutter, as the former vice president claims. Hendrickson writes:

A non-stutterer might not notice when he appears to get caught on words as an adult, because he usually maneuvers out of those moments quickly and expertly. But on other occasions, like that night in Detroit, Biden’s lingering stutter is hard to miss. He stutters — ­if slightly — on several sounds as we sit across from each other in his office. …

Eric S. Jackson, an assistant professor of communicative sciences and dis­orders at N.Y.U., told me he believes that Biden’s eye movements — the blinks, the downward glances — are part of his ongoing efforts to manage his stutter. “As kids we figure out: Oh, if I move parts of my body not associated with the speech system, sometimes it helps me get through these blocks faster,” Jackson, a stutterer himself, explained. …

A stutter does not get worse as a person ages, but trying to keep it at bay can take immense physical and mental energy. Biden talks all day to audiences both small and large. In addition to periodically stuttering or blocking on certain sounds, he appears to intentionally not stutter by switching to an alternative word — a technique called “circumlocution” — ­which can yield mangled syntax. I’ve been following practically everything he’s said for months now, and sometimes what is quickly characterized as a memory lapse is indeed a stutter.

I’ve never thought that Biden was a natural candidate for president. This is his third campaign — the first two being in 1988 and 2008 — and every time he has struggled to express the thematic clarity that defines the best campaigns. He’s a more natural legislator than president.

But Hendrickson’s article underscores that Biden, while older and no doubt somewhat slower, hasn’t changed all that much. He is who he is. At his best — and he was close to his best during last week’s debate — he is a formidable politician. And his worst moments may not have anything to do with his mental sharpness.

For more …

National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar: “Why Biden an awfully solid frontrunner: He has strong bases of support w 3 critical groups: African-Americans (52%, up 38 on Warren), seniors (42%, up 26 on Buttigieg) and moderates (38%, up 28 on Bernie). Different rival with each of these groups.” The most entertaining piece I’ve read on the Biden campaign — and it’s quite damning in places — was by Olivia Nuzzi for New York Magazine. Biden, she writes, “is the least formidable front-runner ever. Will it matter?”

Forward this newsletter to friends …

… and they can sign up for themselves here. It’s free and published every weekday, with help from my colleague Ian Prasad Philbrick.