And they’re off! The presidential sweepstakes begins – again
As if anybody is being held in suspense – Donald J. Trump and Joseph R. Biden are two salty old men – one of whom will be the nation’s next president – again.
They’re now, officially, both “presumptive nominees” – again.
And the American public is bracing itself for the onslaught of pure drivel that will come from the mouths of both candidates – again.
Trump has never fully stopped campaigning since he came down that Trump Tower escalator in June 2015.
Biden? He’s supposedly a doddering old fellow, incapable of coherent thoughts without a teleprompter in front of him.
The stage is set. The battle lines have been drawn. The campaign rhetoric is being crafted as I write this.
With 232 days until the November election, Donald Trump has a slight lead over Biden.
Trump probably shouldn’t gloat about his lead. You know what they say about your car’s rearview mirror, don’t you? CAUTION: Things that appear in the rearview mirror, may be closer than they appear.
In the meantime, Trump has given himself a new nickname “Honest Don.” (Is this middle school or something?)
Most people, especially presidential candidates, probably shouldn’t give themselves nicknames. Especially since “Honest Don” doesn’t seem to jibe with reality.
Meanwhile, Biden has finally proven that he’s not as mentally incompetent as Republicans keep claiming he is.
His March 7 State of the Union speech was, by Biden’s standards – a tour de force.
To be honest, Biden can be gaffe-prone. But on that night, he never sputtered. He never once looked confused about what he was saying. He gave every indication that he was in full control of his presidency.
That sent Republicans scrambling for something with which to attack his State of the Union performance.
Ah, yes. They said it was “too loud.”
“What was he screaming about?” they asked.
In a one-hour-and-seven-minute speech, Biden had transformed himself from Mr. Magoo, into Godzilla; his over-the-top bellicosity had laid waste to the Republicans’ hopes that he may have stared blankly from the podium soon after he stood behind it.
And, if there were questions about his stamina, he answered those, too. Biden’s average State of the Union speeches have been five minutes longer (1:07) than the speeches of that hale, hearty, and loquacious Barack Obama’s average (1:02).
But Republicans thought they had the perfect counter to the Democrat’s old geezer – a young, rising star among the ranks of Republican senators – Alabama’s Katie Britt.
That didn’t work.
Senator Britt’s State of the Union rebuttal sent much of the nation into a guffaw in unison.
What had been meant to be a vibrant counter to “Sleepy Joe” Biden, was an over-the-top, hyper-dramatic, laughably bad, presentation that also ignited an awkward controversy.
Britt decided to tell a yarn about the travels she took soon after entering office, in which she encountered a rape victim.
Hardly anything about her story rang true.
The rape victim heard about being included in Britt’s speech. She bristled about it. Britt had taken creative license about a very serious matter – just to make a political point.
Meanwhile, Trump is talking about making cuts. To entitlements. Something Republicans continue to swear they aren’t thinking about doing.
“So first of all, there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting and in terms of also the theft and the bad management of entitlements,” Trump told CNBC when he was asked about Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Also, Trump says, if elected, he’ll release all of the Jan. 6 convicts.
Of course, that’s an obvious play for his MAGA base. He’s still trying to appeal to voters who already plan to vote for him anyway.
As for Biden, he’s stuck in the middle of a controversy over the app TikTok.
If a bill gets sent to his desk that might curtail the use of that very popular app – he promises to sign it.
Millions of young people – young voters use TikTok. Biden could risk losing those.
Al Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.