Biden's response to the whole debate clusterfuck was fine – fiery, all that, the next day (though it does make me question the whole “he had a cold” excuse) – but I would have taken a different tack: go with the fight fight fight, but add on something else: "Look, I know I let you down, that I scared you, and for that, I am truly sorry. I won't make any excuses – I blew it; hell, I scared myself. And I have to live with that, as do all of you. All I can do now is to ask that you give me the chance to do better, that you have the same faith in me that I've had in you all these years, that we go on this one last ride together."

If anyone could deliver that line with the humility it needs, it’s Biden. To admit you fucked up isn’t weakness, it’s strength.

While my complaints remain the same, my thinking on his continued candidacy has tempered a bit since the hangover of Friday morning: I'll vote for whomever the Democratic nominee is – and I think it will be Biden (I'll vote for the dead opossum in my backyard before I vote for the Tumor or RFK Jr.) – though I'm 50/50 (up from 20/80) on whether he should stay in or exit (while I’m a fan of Harris, Whitmer, Newsom, et al and think that any of them would make an excellent president, I've seen little evidence that any of them would fare better (unfortunately, the dead opossum in my backyard wasn't among the choices) as chemo choices against the Tumor) but, if Biden stays – FOR Biden to stay – there has to be a change in his campaign, top down: status quo won't work.

As for the fix for that? 🤷 but I do know that form emails from James Carville and marathon brain-filling sessions (even I would know not to do that to an octogenarian with a stutter) with a subpar debate prep committee team won't do the trick.