Biden was not that bad. . . and not that good Politico, Aug 1, 2019
Yes: Joe Biden for the most part was crisper, more engaged and engaging, in Detroit on Wednesday night than he had been in Miami a month ago.
No: He did not summon a performance so commanding as to demand people view an old man in new light.
If Biden is the essential variable in the Democratic presidential race — none of the nearly two dozen other candidates can rise much further unless or until Biden is perceived to be in a dying fall — then the most reasonable reaction to the latest two-day pair of long and crowded debates is:
So what?
That is not so much dismissive comment as authentic question. Biden’s two debate outings this summer suggest that a politician who has been at this game for decades operates within a predictable and fairly narrow range — at his best, not half-bad; at his worst, pretty bad for a supposed front-runner.
More:
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/01/democratic-debate-2019-detroit-analysis-1443933
