Skip to main content

The Book on Biden

 Joe Biden wasn't really well-loved, for most of the duration of the primaries. If he had been more of a juggernaut, perhaps Buttigieg, Warren, Harris, Booker, and several others wouldn't have tried to attract the liberal-but-anti-Bernie vote.

Biden ran a clumsy campaign; he would sometimes yell at voters, and his choice of insult could remind people of his advanced years ("You're a lying dog-faced pony soldier!")

But luck was on Biden's side. The non-Bernie liberal candidates became a "circular firing squad." Klobuchar went after Buttigieg; Warren went after Bloomberg. 

As Biden searched for a vice-presidential candidate, he showed some reluctance toward Kamala Harris, a figure known for ridiculing her own aides, and someone whose team once famously attacked Biden, then drummed up merchandise sales with tee shirts that commemorated the attack. ("I don't think you're a racist, but.....")

Could Biden choose Stacey Abrams? He called her. "I don't doubt your abilities, but you've never held office on a national scale." Abrams had an answer: "You talk about systemic racism? Black women haven't had the opportunities you've had....If you're insisting on choosing a Black woman who has also held national office....you might think about this in terms of fairness." Abrams went on: "I was the most Googled political figure of 2018...."

You know what happened next.

I find the book "Lucky" intermittently frustrating; the writers have a habit of mixing up their pronouns, and there are weirdly lengthy repetitive chunks, as if someone forgot to do the editing. (I understood pretty quickly the dimensions of Biden's "I-won't-defund-the-police" problem, and I found it odd that the writers kept returning, and returning, and returning to their explanation.)

But here's something positive I'll say about "Lucky." I'm fascinated by "the peripheral," the tiny detail--and the writers deliver here. Where was Michelle Obama sitting when she gave her convention speech? Where did Ivanka get one particular handbag, and how much did it cost? What went into Pete Buttigieg's famous remarks on Mike Pence?

Clearly, I can't put this book down.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Host a Baby

-You have assumed responsibility for a mewling, puking ball of life, a yellow-lab pup. He will spit his half-digested kibble all over your shoes, all over your hard-cover edition of Jennifer Haigh's novel  Faith . He will eat your tables, your chairs, your "I {Heart] Montessori" magnet, placed too low on the fridge. When you try to watch Bette Davis in  Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte , on your TV, your dog will bark through the murder-prologue, for no apparent reason. He will whimper through Lena Dunham's  Girls , such that you have to rewind several times to catch every nuance of Andrew Rannells's ad-libbing--and, still, you'll have a nagging suspicion you've missed something. Your dog will poop on the kitchen floor, in the hallway, between the tiny bars of his crate. He'll announce his wakefulness at 5 AM, 2 AM, or while you and another human are mid-coitus. All this, and you get outside, and it's: "Don't let him pee on my tulips!" When...
3 comments
Read more

The Death of Bergoglio

  It's frustrating for me to hear Bergoglio described as "the less awful pope"--because awful is still awful. I think I get fixated on ideas of purity, which can be juvenile, but putting that aside, here are some things that Bergoglio could have done and did not. (I'm quoting from a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of the Church.) He could levy the harshest penalty, excommunication, against a dozen or more of the most egregious abuse enabling church officials. (He's done this to no enablers, or predators for that matter.) He could insist that every diocese and religious order turn over every record they have about suspected and known abusers to law enforcement. Francis could order every prelate on the planet to post on his diocesan website the names of every proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting cleric. (Imagine how much safer children would be if police, prosecutors, parents and the public knew the identities of these potentially dangerous me...
1 comment
Read more

Raymond Carver: "What's in Alaska?"

Outside, Mary held Jack's arm and walked with her head down. They moved slowly on the sidewalk. He listened to the scuffing sounds her shoes made. He heard the sharp and separate sound of a dog barking and above that a murmuring of very distant traffic.  She raised her head. "When we get home, Jack, I want to be fucked, talked to, diverted. Divert me, Jack. I need to be diverted tonight." She tightened her hold on his arm. He could feel the dampness in that shoe. He unlocked the door and flipped the light. "Come to bed," she said. "I'm coming," he said. He went to the kitchen and drank two glasses of water. He turned off the living-room light and felt his way along the wall into the bedroom. "Jack!" she yelled. "Jack!" "Jesus Christ, it's me!" he said. "I'm trying to get the light on." He found the lamp, and she sat up in bed. Her eyes were bright. He pulled the stem on the alarm and b...
1 comment
Read more