Joe's Schedule Update

I posted last week on what seemed to be an unaccustomed flurry of activity on The President's Public Schedule following the State of the Union address. But this past weekend he seems to have reverted to his normal pattern of leaving for Delaware on Friday and returning Sunday night or Monday morning. I've expressed my doubts that he could keep the earlier schedule up for long.

Beyond that, he seems to have begun to rely on Vice President Harris as a surrogate. As of this morning in The Washington Post,

As the campaign for the White House intensifies, Harris has been thrust to the forefront of President Biden’s efforts to hang on to young and minority voters — groups that are vital to his reelection but that may be losing enthusiasm for his candidacy. This month, Harris has championed a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in Nevada, discussed marijuana legalization in the White House with rapper Fat Joe, and called for a cease-fire in Gaza at a commemoration of Bloody Sunday in Alabama. On Friday, she was in Puerto Rico to highlight the administration’s support for the territory.

.. . In interviews, many of these voters expressed frustration with Biden’s handling of a variety of issues, including the Israel-Gaza war, inflation, voting rights and immigration. Some have raised questions about what exactly Biden has done for them in his first term, often fretting about the rising cost of living.

Increasingly, Biden’s team hopes Harris can provide an answer to these concerns.

Over the weekend,

In a wide-ranging new interview with ABC News, Vice President Kamala Harris suggested there could be "consequences" for Israel if it moves ahead with a planned invasion of Rafah in its pursuit of Hamas fighters.

. . . "We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake," Harris told ABC News' Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott in part of the interview that aired Sunday on "This Week."

This didn't play well with pro-Israel commentators, who represent a Jewish constituency that, like Alan Dershowitz, is losing enthusiasm for Biden and Harris. The theory seems to be, though, that if Harris says these things, Joe has deniability, or something like that, but the Michgan pro-Hamas voters will still be satisfied.

With no public political events on Joe's schedule today, Kamala will fill in:

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to meet on Monday with President Bernardo Arévalo of Guatemala as the U.S. grapples with an influx of migrants to its southern border, thousands from that Central American nation.

. . . As the 2024 election heats up, immigration has become a rising bipartisan concern. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress say the system is broken, but efforts by lawmakers to address the problems have failed. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has tasked Harris with working to address the reasons people choose to leave their homelands to migrate to the U.S.

But as with Joe, if you ask for Kamala, you get the whole package:

Kamala Harris is being roasted on social media after she was seen clapping along to a protest song – before awkwardly realising that they were protesting against her.

The vice president visited Puerto Rico on Friday to highlight the Biden administration’s actions in supporting the island nation’s recovery and renewal efforts.

. . . In video footage from her visit to the community centre, Ms Harris is seen gleefully clapping and smiling as Puerto Rican protesters banged on drums and sang in Spanish.

However, Ms Harris’ cheerful mood came to an abrupt end when her aide appeared to inform her what they were singing about.

Here's my answer to people who think the deep state still has a plan, for instance to get Trump off the ballot by flipping the House. If that were the case, you'd see much more smug confidence. Instead, we're seeing increasing panic. Again, just over the weekend,

[James Carville] told Maureen Dowd that Biden's low approval ratings are like “walking in on your grandma naked. You can’t get the image out of your mind.” He said that Democrats don't want him to talk about the poll numbers but he can't not talk about that subject. He's acutely tuned into things like poll numbers as a career political strategist and adviser. He can't unsee them.

The Democrat establishment, whose talking points so far have failed, is currently trying to throw Trump's characterizations back at him, without much success:

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who has amassed a fortune of over $100 million over her political career, has suggested that Donald Trump is a grifter.

In an interview with former White House Press Secretary turned MSNBC host Jen Psaki, Pelosi said it was “very clear” that Trump swindling his donors.

. . . “Well, I think it’s very clear that Trump is a grifter,” Pelosi responded. “That is the way it is. Integrity which is something we all want to always deepen in politics and government has just flown the coop with him.

As of late January,

The Biden-Kamala Harris campaign, enabled by Haley's line of attack against Trump, this week for the first time went after Trump's cognitive health in an ad. The spot, however, is almost all Trump, a highlight reel of his misstatements, with Haley spliced in, questioning Trump's mental fitness. Biden appears only at the end, with his photo and the voice-over, "I'm Joe Biden and I approved this message."

So far, the claim that Trump is the one who's senile -- which Biden echoed in his Gridiron Club address -- isn't working. Trump continues to project an image of someone who's struggling against stereotypical, almost comic book supervilains like Judge Engoron, Fani Willis, Alvin Bragg, and Letitia James, and winning. Trump is a winner, Biden is a nebbish who, at this point, now seems to need Kamala Harris of all people to fight on his behalf.

Strategies developed at the last minute in panic when earlier plans don't work out probably aren't formulas for success.