Joe Biden intended to stay above the fray. That strategy is now out the window
Joe Biden intended to stay above the fray. He wasn’t going to punch down at opponents, or embark on any apology tours for past votes or statements. Creating a sense of inevitability was the goal.Since Kamala Harris cold-cocked him on the debate stage two weeks ago, Biden has had to recalibrate. The former vice president, who rarely submits to TV news interviews, granted a sit-down to CNN. His surrogates have been unleashed to deliver more pointed attacks on Harris.
Since the late June debate when Harris surprised him with an attack on his record on racial issues — including working with segregationist senators and his opposition to federally mandated busing — Biden has received an earful from supporters and donors who say he lacked both presence and aggression in the debate, according to sources who recently attended events with or spoke to the former vice president in recent days.The race for 2020 starts now. Stay in the know.
“Until the debate, nobody had attempted to land a critical punch,” he said. “They’re responding to deal with issues that arise from someone attacking the vice president’s record.” “Coming out of the debates, something the campaign felt strongly about is, we needed to be assertive on what his record was, both in terms of moving forward but to also demonstrate to the political world at large that we weren’t going to take that sort of thing without a response,” the Biden adviser continued. “We went out and tried to, best we can — especially with a slick and slippery person — try to pin Kamala Harris down on her own record.
Harpootlian characterized Harris’ debate assault as below-the-belt given Biden’s past political support for her and Harris’ friendship with Beau Biden.
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