Will Stancil:
"What makes this so depressing is that if you stop doing theater criticism on the strength of his voice or whatever, this is a clip of a US president strongly defending a working-class economic boom he successfully fought to create. And no one wants to hear that or seems to care."
David Frum at the Atlantic:
As I watched this good man summoning all the power of his will against the weakening of his body, two Broadway songs came to mind. One from the musical Evita:
But on the other hand, she’s slowing down
She’s lost a little of that magic drive.
But I would not advise those critics present to derive
Any satisfaction from her fading star.
She’s the one who’s kept us where we are.
And the other from Hamilton:
If I say goodbye, the nation learns to move on
It outlives me when I’m gone.
Andrew Sullivan:
Two weeks ago, I wrote that the Biden campaign is over. It still is. The attempt these last two weeks to insist that the parrot is not, in fact, dead is Monty Python material. Even Barro, Chait, and Yglesias have reluctantly jumped ship! So let us remind ourselves. The Biden campaign is no more; it has ceased to be; it is bereft of life; it has kicked the bucket, hopped the twig, bit the dust, snuffed it, breathed its last. Now what?
Also says of his old schoolmate Starmer:
Kurt Andersen concurs:
As I’ve written since 1998, U.S. presidential politics since 1960 has evolved into a show business genre, ever more about public performance. But anger and disgust at that unfortunate fact doesn’t justify choosing to run a candidate no longer able to excel in this world as it is.
to which someone replies:
..&/but in terms of the nature of what TYPE of performance is needed right now is less soaring orator (which neither Biden nor Harris does well) than public prosecutor (at which Harris is among the best)
Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton suggests gutsy George Clooney should be the Democratic candidate:
Why Clooney?
Most importantly, he’d whip the dangerous Donald Trump easily, probably by a landslide. Clooney’s a better actor. That’s all Trump is, besides a compulsive liar. Clooney is much more.
He has an easy smile that exudes sincerity and is extraordinarily telegenic. Trump pouts and frowns and is a horror show.
Clooney exhibits conviction and is a humanitarian. Trump displays self-centered opportunism and sows hate.....
Clooney’s a world-class communicator.
He’s a Kentucky native who conceivably could draw support from Southern border states. Remember that wonderful “O Brother, Where Art Thou” flick when he played a lead bluegrass singer? Sure, he was an escaped convict, but that was just pretend. Trump’s a true-life convicted felon.
Clooney piloted the swordfishing boat Andrea Gail into “The Perfect Storm” and it perished, but I’m confident he wouldn’t sink the ship of state.
Look how he cleverly and deftly upended the corrupt corporate attorney who tried to kill him in “Michael Clayton.”
And showed his environmental creds and family values in “The Descendants.”
Politicians should never underestimate the voters’ desire to be entertained.
Yes, Clooney is just a movie star who has never served in public office. But neither had actors Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger before they were elected California governor.
And Trump, a reality TV star, had never held office either before shockingly being elected president. In his case, it showed.
All right, Clooney is not going to be nominated for president. Democrats haven’t the imagination.
But they should entertain us at their August convention by engaging in a competitive, wide-open contest for the best candidate to stop Trump. And it’s not Biden
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