Barack Obama’s endorsement of Joe Biden is comedy gold

Spectator

A masterly performance, delivered with a straight face

"Anyone who doubts that Barack Obama has a sense of humor should take a look of his endorsement of Joe Biden to be president of the United States. Really, it’s a masterly performance, and delivered, mirabile dictu, with a straight face. Try it yourself. Grab a mirror. Assume your best ‘I’m-being-serious-and-sincere’ expression. Then say out loud that Joe Biden would bring ‘leadership guided by knowledge and experience, honesty and humility, empathy and grace’ to the Capital.

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"Last May in this space, I wrote an article called ‘Why Joe Biden can’t win’. Back then, many of Joe Biden’s signal liabilities were already obvious: his fogginess and ‘gaffes’, his astonishing corruption. The main thing he had going was his aura of normality, brittle but well-rehearsed. In comparison with fruitcakes like Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren, he seemed like a reassuring guy from headquarters. Since then, however, his verbal tics have degenerated into unmistakeable signs of mental deterioration. I’ve several times remarked that letting Joe Biden continue with his campaign was really a form of elder abuse. Barack Obama’s better-late-than-never endorsement cannot save the campaign of this doddering political relic." . . .