64 Days and Counting

So yesterday Biden condemned the violence associated with the protests in Kenosha and Portland (among other places). There seems to be some polling evidence that the race is tightening, and also that Trump's "law and order" theme had resonance with many (including African Americans). Voices on the left are still trying to suggest that the real problem is "right-wing" violence, but Biden was careful to condemn violence on both the right and left.

You get the feeling it might not matter. Biden would just as soon the issue simply fade away, while Trump would like to keep it front and center. To the extent that Biden has mentioned it at all (up till now), it was to blame the president. Trump's America is clearly dysfunctional, so goes the thought, just look at all the violence.

Electorally speaking, one wonders if any of this is moving the needle with undecided voters. Sometimes it seems that the two parties are foisting two conflicting victimhood narratives on America. I suspect that making a mass sense of victimhood the underpinning thesis of a national campaign is deeply harmful and smacks (to riff off Andrew Sullivan) of Weimar. That is, an atmosphere rife for some sort of authoritarianism.

Of the two major candidates, Biden is positioned best to make the case for reason, for calm, and for pulling together. Has he got it in him? Trump voters often feel like an attack on Trump is an attack on themselves. If Biden can't make an inclusive case (that is, a case that does not disrespect the concerns of the Trump supporters), then not only will the election be very close, but the divisiveness of the current scene, the us vs. them mentality prevalent on both sides of the political divide, will only continue and worsen. 

Consider:

Dead Candidate Walking

Against Disunion