| Democratic primary voters who did not support Joe Biden during his bid for the presidential nomination in 2020 were never in any meaningful sense against him. We had our preferred candidates, based on policy views or other relevant considerations, but I never heard or read anything from anyone saying that they steadfastly opposed Biden, or even that they disliked him. His emergence as the nominee was disappointing to some of us, but there was consolation in the knowledge that he is a fundamentally decent person. That he has pleasantly surprised us on policy while in office is, of course, a bonus. |
| Indeed, it is only a mild rhetorical overstatement to say that Biden’s decency is his superpower. He positively exudes empathy, much of it drawn from his personal experiences with loss, pain, and adversity. And because the Republican Party has decided to try to hurt him by hurting his surviving son, Hunter Biden, the President has had to deal very publicly with one of the things that any parent—indeed, every person—most dreads: having to decide how (or even whether) to support a loved one who is in the midst of making decisions that damage himself and others. |
| The elder Biden has walked an excruciatingly fine line. Unlike… |
