A crucial test of a presidential candidacy is the capacity to recover from setbacks – Barack Obama’s daytime television conversation about faith and his pastor, Bill Clinton’s late night response to questions of infidelity while sitting with his wife. Longer ago — Jack Kennedy’s response to Protestant clergy questioning his loyalty to the US or the Pope (It is not only Jews who get questioned about dual loyalty.). Longer ago still — for Vice President, Richard Nixon’s televised speech about gifts he received, insisting he would not give up his dog.
The 2020 campaign?
Elizabeth Warren has recovered twice – to the fumbling effort regarding her Native American ancestry and to questions about the viability of her Medicare for All proposal.
Joe Biden seems like he doesn’t have to recover, but he does. He gaffes and gaffes and continues to get high marks in the polls. When he dips, will he have a resonse?
Bernie Sanders recovered from a heart attack. That’s a real life recovery. He hasn’t slowed. He dropped in the polls, but not a lot. Can he poll higher than Warren or Biden or Buttigieg?
Pete Buttigieg has risen in the polls. Is this permanent? Did he fake support from African Americans? What about the picture he used that was actually of an African? Does he need to recover from this? Can he just ignore it?
Amy Klobuchar recovered from early accusations about how tough a boss she was. She sais she was exacting , that an equally exacting man would not have been criticized. She put her critics on the defensive.