I have always liked Joe Biden. Even in 2020, he was the best of a bad bunch of Democratic Presidential candidates. It pains me to see him as a shell of his former self. It made me wonder if he was ever the man I remembered him as being.
Joe Biden has a long and well-documented public speaking history. With no particular methodology, I found clips of him throughout the years to see how he got to the mental state he is in now. Some clips are longer than others, and can be scanned through to get a general sense of the man at the time of their recording.
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A clip of JB from 1987 on the Larry King Show. Sharp as a tack. Almost too slick.
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Joe Biden on the Senate floor in 1995, describing the genocide of Bosnian Moslems. Inspiring and possessing an almost encyclopaedic knowledge, leaving aside his notes in an impassioned speech.
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Joe Biden in the 2008 Iowa Democratic Debate discussing health care. He has facts and figures at his command. There is a little hesitancy at one point, but this is a man who has mellowed his youthful swagger into a more natural confidence. Still, there seems to be just a bit less of a sharp edge.
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The 2012 Vice Presidential Debate against Paul Ryan. Still in possession of his faculties, but there are more fumbles and searches for words. There is a noticeable lessening of vigour from his younger self. He still manages to hold his own against a man half his age. There are times when there is a glint in his eye as he watches his opponent and he is eager to respond.
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In 2016, he gives a speech as he campaigns for Hillary Clinton. He is cogent, but there is some slur to his words. He looks like the granddad that he is, but Grandpa still has style and you can see he has the confidence that would let him nuzzle up to a motorcycle mama while her old man glowers. Grandpa can still spin a good yarn without needing notes.
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In the 2020 Democratic Debates, JB looks a bit tired, and he can muster facts and a good argument, but the passion is not there, or rather, the passion is forced. On a stage full of septuagenarians, he fits right in. His flubs are the worst of the bunch. The man who used to be the smartest man in the room just isn't the smartest man in the room anymore. You feel him going through the motions, but being annoyed at having to make the effort, almost apologetic for taking up your time.
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In his first Presidential Press Conference, he is confused and at times incoherent. He reminds me of my 89 year-old father-in-law. JB is tired and worn out. It is painful to watch him struggle even as he clings to his crib notes for help. Even with the softball questions, you want to tell the reporters to stop hectoring this confused old man. There are occasional flashes of the Joe Biden in his prime, but they are so fleeting and weak that they only highlight his helplessness.
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He has gone from a man of supreme confidence and razor-sharp wit to a stumbling and, at times, incoherent old man who looks older than his 78 years. He has changed from a man who you might, at turns, admire or detest, but must always respect; to a man who you cannot help but like; to a man who registers only pity in his audience. This last phase of Biden's public life saddens me, because it diminishes the legacy of a once great Senator.
I hope this survey might inspire others to make a more complete and better organized presentation and analysis.
I think you are nuts, your links do show his decline but sucking up to this POS who has rarely if ever showed flashes of brilliance like you allude to is fucked.
Once great Senator? What the fuck are you on? Did you steal Hunter's crack?
We can't all attain your level of partisan perfection. You would lynch the Donald Trump of 40 years ago for his political impurity.
To persuade, you must be able to compliment your opponent for the insults to have real bite.
If you took any of the politicians or public figures of 40 years ago and dropped them into today they would all be considered hardcore far right white supremacist racists by the totalitarian left, of whom demented Joe Biden is their star child.
Totalitarianism, the political phenomena, and the more general social Totalism, are ideologies that cannot tolerate dissent. We suffer from it on the right as well as on the left.
If somebody is not completely in agreement with a very narrow set of views, they are anathema and reduced to a subhuman status.
It is disgusting when the Left does it, and it is worse when the right does it because they should know better. Fanatical partisanship is un-American.