Staff Reports
The Biden-Harris campaign is scrambling to salvage Joe Biden’s disastrous debate showing, resorting to selective data interpretation to downplay any negative impact on the polls. Campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon insists that despite the media’s dismissal, battleground state data indicates no shift in public perception post-debate. Various flash polls cited by the campaign claim that the debate had minimal influence on the race, echoing their internal polling results.
While immediate polls might not offer a comprehensive evaluation of public sentiment, the campaign is quick to highlight their internal metrics, suggesting that Biden outshone Trump in key presidential attributes and issue-based discussions. The narrative of Trump’s alienation of independent voters through personal attacks and controversial stances supposedly solidified Biden’s lead on crucial issues. The Biden camp appears buoyed by their internal findings, optimistic about the debate’s impact in their favor.
This Post-Debate Memo From the Biden Campaign Is Comedy Gold https://t.co/J82fA5iiSu
— Michael J. Fell (@MichaelJFell) June 30, 2024
However, the memo takes a defensive turn as O’Malley Dillon preempts any potential polling setbacks by preemptively attributing them to media bias, drawing a parallel to Obama’s polling dip post-debate in 2012. This attempt to deflect blame from a potential polling decline onto media influence raises eyebrows, especially given the stark contrast between Obama’s debate unpreparedness and Biden’s extensive preparation time.
The insinuation that a potential dip in Biden’s polls would be due to media narratives rather than his debate performance is met with skepticism. Biden’s debate showing only exacerbated existing concerns about his age and cognitive abilities, issues that voters have long held reservations about. The notion that media manipulation shields Biden’s cognitive decline from public scrutiny lacks credibility, as recent coverage has attempted to minimize concerns regarding his mental acuity.
