Debate #2: Biden: "My time is up."

For me, Kamala Harris had two of the most notable moments in the Democrats' second debate last night:

#1.  There was a lot of shouting and talking out of turn by several of the debaters, the worst one at it (in my opinion) being Kirsten Gillibrand.   On the verge of bedlam, with three or four people all talking over each other at once, Harris finally penetrated the din and said:    "Hey, guys, you know what?  America doesn't want to witness a food fight;  they want to know how we're going to put food on their table."   It showed her ability to take charge of chaos and calm things down in a way that did not offend anyone -- others smiled, Biden even mimed applause.

#2.  But she also prevailed in a very substantive moment, when she took on Joe Biden on the racial question.   She began by saying she did not think he was racist.   But he was of a time when he supported policies that, from our current perspective, do not put him in a good light.  At the very least, he is insensitive to the systemic racism that surrounded him in the past -- as so many good people of his age were and are.

Harris used her personal story of getting bused to school, as a second-grader, as means of desegregation (in a positive way, she seemed to mean).   She said it was very painful to her now to have Biden express his support for segregationists, even if he himself was not, although she did refer to his having "opposed busing." 

Biden became very defensive, talking rapidly trying to explain his position (saying he opposed federal busing laws) and blaming the busing decision on her local school district.   Overall, he looked angry, weak, ineffective, and . . . yes, old.     Finally, he stopped almost mid-sentence and said, "My time is up."

Ostensibly, he meant his allotted time to speak had expired.   But no one else all evening voluntarily stopped in mid-explanation because the time was up.   It was impossible not to think of the double meaning of that statement:   MY TIME IS UP, as in:   I'm from a different era;  my time has past.

Frankly, as much as one can love affable old Joe, he's right.   His time is up.   Not only that exchange.   He looked old, he sounded old.   There were also calls from Erik Swalwell and others to "pass the torch" to a new generation.   It was not a good night for Joe Biden.

Ralph