HOUSTON — An energetic start for Joe Biden in the Democratic debate helped set high expectations that the former vice president himself couldn’t meet in the second half, when the mistake-prone candidate seemed noticeably fatigued.
Early in the 10-person debate, Biden, 76, took on his two chief rivals Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts over their healthcare positions and support for “Medicare for all.”
“How are we going to pay for it?” Biden asked of the candidates as they championed their proposals to effectively nationalize the U.S. healthcare system.
Despite responses from Sanders and Warren about higher taxes financing their plans, Biden remained relentless on the attack.
“It’s a great plan if you like it. I don’t like it,” Biden said, after attacking both the senators for proposing to significantly raise taxes on the American middle class.
Shortly after that strong start, however, Biden started making mistakes, a problem that has dogged him throughout the election cycle, such as mixing up names and places.
During the debate, Biden said that “nobody should be in jail for a nonviolent crime,” prompting speculation online about whether he thinks individuals should be incarcerated for white-collar crime offenses. A Biden aide later clarified that he meant people should not be imprisoned for “non-violent drug related crimes,” something he has said on the campaign trail.
“Play the radio, make sure the television — excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night, the phone — make sure that kids hear words, a kid coming from a very poor school, a very poor background will hear 4 million words fewer spoken by the time they get there,” Biden said later in the debate.
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro appeared to take a veiled swipe at the 76-year-old Biden’s age during an exchange about whether Biden’s healthcare plan would automatically enroll individuals in a public option or it was opt-in.
“Are you forgetting already what you said just two minutes ago?” Castro said. “I mean, I can’t believe that you said two minutes ago that they had to buy in, and now you’re saying they don’t have to buy — you’re forgetting that.” Biden countered that individuals would not have to buy in under his plan.
“He started off strong, but he faded a little bit towards the end. The answers on Iraq and Afghanistan got melded together,” said Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan, who attended Thursday’s debate. “Fatigue is part of it, three-hour debate is a lot at one time. Age is part of it. He’s trying to answer every question even when he’s not participating. That’s not a wise strategy in debates, generally”
At some point, it even appeared that Biden had some kind of malfunction with his teeth, with some speculating that his dentures became dislodged. The former vice president suffered a similar physical mishap during a CNN climate change town hall earlier this month, when blood began filling his eye in an incident that raised lingering questions about his general health.
Should he win the nomination and defeat Trump in 2020, Biden would be the oldest occupant of the White House at age 78. For comparison, President Ronald Reagan was 77 years and 349 days old when he left office.
