Joe Biden Goes Off the Rails in His Voting Rights Speech

A firebrand, Joe Biden is not.

Biden won the 2020 presidential election by running as a moderate with a decades-long history in the Senate of achieving bipartisanship by cultivating personal relationships with his Republican colleagues.

He was perceived by the electorate as a level-headed statesman who was best equipped to unite our country after the chaos and division of the Trump administration.

We saw a different version of Biden in in a speech announcing his support for changing the filibuster rules to allow a simple majority to pass new voting rights legislation.

“Do you want to be the side of Dr. King or George Wallace?,” screamed Biden. “Do you want to be the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor? Do you want to be the side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis? This is the moment to decide, to defend our elections, to defend our democracy. If you do that you will not be alone.”

Biden’s rhetoric was over the top and shrill, and his demeanor was off-putting. Even some Democrats criticized Biden’s rhetoric comparing the current opposition of Republicans to the voting rights legislation to segregationists.

Barack Obama often employed a professorial tone in his speeches, but he was capable of employing fiery oratory when he was led by the spirit. And it worked for him, because he was a relatively young for a politician.

Fire and brimstone verbosity doesn’t work for an old politician who looks like the Grim Reaper. Biden looked unhinged and deranged. Not a good look.

What the hell did Biden accomplish? Nothing. It’s Democrat senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema who have sabotaged his voting rights bills by refusing to agree to change the filibuster rules. If Manchin and Sinema have proven anything, it’s that they are immune to public pressure from their Democratic colleagues.

Unfortunately, the voting rights bills are dead. Biden should chill the hell out, and stop promising things he can’t deliver.