He was a like a completely different person today at a Dem rally, fired up as fook. Just one stutter and tickly throat. "Donald Trump isn't just a convicted felon, Donald Trump is a one man crime wave". Good shit.
He is still no where close to where he needs to be.
Biden largely won the election last time because of the groundwork he put in place 6 years ago, and the fact that Trump was trying to implement a dictatorship. He did a lot of TV appearances leading up to the 2020 election, and portrayed himself as an experienced statesman who was both in control of himself, had a sharp mind and was compassionate. When COVID hit, that aged him. We saw that in the presidential debates in 2020, but because of the pandemic we did not really see him much, so the image he had created over the past 2-3 years was what stuck in the minds of people. With Trump being a dictator in making, it motivated a lot of people to vote for Biden just to avoid getting Trump as president again. A lot of people willfully ignored his visible aging, and it was less of an issue that time. Which frankly is good, because policy wise he has been a very good president. Now however, the calculus is changing. Over the past 4 years his visible aging has been very apparent, he has more word salads than ever before and with the whole Gaza debacle he no longer appears as a president ruling with compassion. Some decisions on foreign policy especially even feel like deliberate political calculations with one eye on the presidential election. Which is the opposite of what people voted for.
At the same time his generation is holding on to power too long. The ideas of liberal democracy are being shaken by events in Europe, automation and corruption in established institutions, and a madman who is running for president - again. NATO, the UN, the Supreme Court, Federal vs State, the concept of checks and balances. Everything is being challenged. We can also include the myriad of social changes here - such as the things the right has labled "wokeness", how automation is about to replace 50% of workers, the shifts in demographics in large cities and the GOP catering to a tiny minority while basically surviving as a party by the skin of their teeth. Not to mention an astonishing fervor from the religious right in trying to push for a christo-fascist state through institutions most people thought were pretty much set up to prevent that from happening.
Democrats need to understand that fear is what is currently driving the electorate. In moments of fear political theory is very clear - people go one of two ways, either to the authoritarian or to the guy who exudes stability and clear values (such as compassion). No one can beat Trump to voters who want an authoritarian. Biden won because he was a steady pair of hands who would lead with compassion. He no longer is. It does not matter how many times he makes a good appearance on TV, or gets in a decent jab at Trump, that is not what will make people vote for him.
His campaign needs to wake up and realise that they are fighting a losing battle. He needs to be the stability people crave, the compassionate leader who stands for clear values. Comforting a man who pays $6000 USD for medicines, looking him in the eye and saying "I have got you, you will pay no more than $2000 once this bill is passed" - he needs more of that. Right now he appears as a grandpa coming out of an old folks home, unsure of his own values, pretending to be tough and yelling at random things. That will not work. If he can not be that, then get someone else in to be the president people need.