It appears that the hard-charging "Old Yeller" Joe Biden that we saw at the State of the Union address has sailed off into the sunset and the familiar Dazed and Confused Joe is back. The latest incident of awkward (to put it charitably) behavior cropped up this week at a Mexican restaurant in Phoneix, Arizona. Biden was scheduled to speak to supporters in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, but when the granddaughter of labor leader Ceasar Chavez began introducing the president to the modestly-sized audience, Biden suddenly wandered away and went to sit at a booth with a mother and her baby. He sat there talking to them while two speakers concluded their introductory remarks before eventually being brought back up to the lectern to make his pitch.
President Biden on Tuesday wandered off stage, beelined toward a baby and sat in the crowd as he was being introduced at a campaign event in Phoenix.
“Well, folks, I have to tell you straight up,” the 81-year-old president told his supporters after venturing back on-stage.
“I like you all, but I couldn’t resist that little baby.”
Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez – the granddaughter of labor icon César Chávez – was about a minute into her brief opening remarks when the president bolted from the stage.
You can watch the uncomfortable incident here:
Biden was apparently prompted by his handlers to come back and attempt to explain his departure by saying he "couldn't resist that little baby" when he left to see the small child. Now, having Joe Biden suddenly head in the direction of a child uninvited is problematic on the best of days (particularly if it's a little girl), but the timing of this adventure was beyond awkward. Speakers had been arranged to introduce him to the audience, but he just left the stage and ignored them while he spoke to someone else. That's simply rude.
Given the fundamental purpose of this trip, Joe Biden's team should avoid having him behave rudely or look as if he's ignoring the crowd if at all possible. Biden was in Arizona with the specific purpose of shoring up his badly sagging popularity among Hispanic voters. According to two recent polls, one from Suffolk and the other from Sienna, Trump is currently leading Biden among likely Hispanic voters by five and six points respectively. Biden barely squeaked out a win in Arizona by 0.3% in 2020 so he obviously can't afford to lose this voting block.
To his credit, Biden appeared to make it through most of his prepared remarks without too much difficulty. But keep in mind that this was fairly early in the day and he was able to read off of a script. He credited Latino voters for his 2020 victory in Arizona, telling the few dozen people in the restaurant, "I need you back."
Unfortunately, what Biden's speechwriters failed to provide him with was a reason that the flock should return to the fold. He immediately pivoted to pointing out that he was running against Donald Trump, describing the former president as a "danger" to the Hispanic community. I somehow doubt that's what they came to hear or the message most of them took away. If Biden seriously wants to win back Hispanic support, perhaps he could have started by saying what he actually plans to do differently to improve the quality of their lives. Tell them how he's going to actually reduce inflation and lower the prices they are paying for virtually everything. But Joe Biden can't do that because he apparently either doesn't have the first clue how to make that happen or he's not interested in doing it.
If nothing else, Biden could potentially inspire more confidence in wavering supporters simply by appearing to be present in the moment and hearing people's concerns. But the Dazed and Confused version of Biden traveling the nation this week likely won't be accomplishing that mission either.
