Reason one is optics: Hollywood has always viewed politics as, essentially, performance, and Biden can no longer pull off a convincing performance as president. I know there are folks out there who do not want to hear this, but after having sat in on a handful of Sarah’s focus groups this week and having had a number of conversations with non-political folks in my neighborhood since the debate, it’s very clear that a growing number of people simply think Biden is too impaired to do the job. If you don’t believe my anecdata, believe the polling: 85 percent of respondents say Biden’s too old, two-thirds of those polled say he should step aside, and even 54 percent of Biden supporters say he should not run again. The president’s biggest job remains having a finger on the so-called button, and you don’t want a guy who isn’t there 16 hours out of the day with his pointer hovering over it.
And the second reason is that Hollywood has always been a youth-oriented business selling the idea of eternal vitality, an industry that respects projections of strength. When I asked a screenwriter who has been following the drama if the revolt was due to the frustrations of having to deal with aging, out-of-it studio chieftains, he said the answer was simpler.
“Hollywood hates nothing more than weakness. Unless there’s a montage of getting strong and winning. They know there’s no montage of Biden getting strong and winning, so time for a quick offscreen death and a recast,” he said. Even if he manages to turn in an impressive campaign stop or press conference here and there, everyone’s simply waiting for Biden to stumble again. And he will. He’s not getting any younger.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member