Last night a rally was held in Dallas, Texas by Joe Biden and it had the ambiance of a nomination celebration. There was a sense in the room that things had stabilized, been made right, the world had realigned to its proper place and that now all would be well. This seemed like a coronation of the proper next in line, in spite of the fact that the new king was in fact trailing in delegates and in all available polling of the Super Tuesday states.
This was all reminiscent of Bill Clinton declaring victory in New Hampshire in 1992 despite finishing behind Paul Tsongas. That was the political brain child of campaign managers Carville and Begala, and Clinton sold the strategy like no one else could, a world class political performance.
Joe sold the idea just as well, but with a different spin. While Clinton showed elation and ecstatic surprise, claiming the moniker of the “Comeback Kid”, Joe took the stage as the triumphant victor, calm and humbled, yet certain this was the correct and only decision. It didn’t matter that no decision was made last night, just as Clinton had lost New Hampshire after leading the polls by double digits going in.
As yesterday’s post predicted, Joe wasted no time in announcing his future cabinet to the world, rewarding each of his former competitors with assurances they were coming with him to Washington. Too early to promise specific posts, but these sacrificial lambs would not be forgotten in the kingdom.
The entire event was a very well planned theatre piece, with co-stars piling on the love train and painting a picture of an unstoppable juggernaut, a consolidation of the party under the one true thing. The event had a sense of finality, of relief that something seemed over, that there was a finality to it that was completely fabricated, a political fiction sold as a fete accompli.
Politically, it was genius. Bernie could do nothing similar in response. Elizabeth soldiered on, no consolidation to present an appearance of a separate but equal Democratic faction. Bernie, though leading in delegates and polls, looked like the challenger, a disheveled muckraker up against the slick and well-oiled machine.
In a matter of hours we will see if it worked.