A brutal reality Democrats have to face, certainly ethically and perhaps politically, is that Biden’s COVID record is mediocre at best when you look at the results. Yes, he isn’t an ignorant buffoon like Trump is, but rhetoric aside*, Biden’s record hasn’t been great. Not only did it take too long to begin to ramp up to the next generation of vaccines (and Senate Democrats should investigate why it took so long), but Biden’s average monthly death rate, while lower than Trump’s, is still about two-thirds of his. Remember, Trump didn’t really have a vaccine (and I started the clock at March 1, 2021, given the length of time it typically takes to die from COVID; if I move it back to Jan. 21, Biden actually has done worse).

We probably won’t know for a long time why Biden’s response was so poor, though Biden’s consultants probably didn’t help. But don’t think for a moment, as ludicrous as it might sound, that Trump won’t attack Biden on his COVID record (or at least counterattack Biden on COVID, if the subject is raised). He’s shameless enough to do it.

That’s why taking so long to begin the push for the next generation of vaccines has puzzled me: it’s great politics, yet, like the cautious, hesitant New Democrat he is, he took far too long to move in that direction. Actually, that might just explain it.

*On the topic of rhetoric, I would remind readers that former Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki is the recipient of the highly prestigious award for Outstanding, Yet Unintentional Contributions to Public Health for her snide response to a journalist who asked about free COVID test distribution–something Biden promised on the campaign trail–which likely led to the Biden administration sending out free kits shortly thereafter. I was hoping she would stick around and accidentally assist the public health response again…