Mark Penn, who has argued that Democrats need to move to the center to win swing votes about as long as I have been alive, says that Biden has made the mistake of falling in with the radical left. Their threats to stay home or vote for a third party are a bluff, he says; fear of Trump will ultimately fire them up, and they have nowhere else to go. Change course immediately, appeal to the Haley voters, or face defeat in November!
The problem with this line of recycled reasoning is that Biden is already doing precisely what he asks. Consider the following:
- GAZA: Penn says Biden should give the Israelis the weapons to finish the job, while insisting that civilians be protected to the maximum extent possible. That is exactly what he is doing.
- INFLATION: Penn says Biden should be doing more to reduce inflation. Most of that is beyond Biden’s power, but the campaign is doing its best to emphasize efforts to combat shrinkflation and bring down drug prices.
- THE BORDER: Penn wants a legislative effort to secure the border. Biden supported bipartisan legislation to do exactly that which was torpedoed by Trump and House Republicans.
- CRIME: Biden isn’t Batman, and crime is going down.
What else, exactly, is the man supposed to do?