The unusually early timing of the debate means it coincides with another milestone in the American political and media calendar: the Aspen Ideas Festival, an annual summit of elites and do-gooders (and elites masquerading as do-gooders) held every summer in the shadow of the American Rockies. Organizers of the festival, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, have hosted a viewing party, where a crowd of Biden supporters gathered tonight inside a packed pavilion.
Outside, an overcast afternoon gave way to a light drizzle, lending a sense of mountain serenity. But inside, nerves were running high. Everyone I spoke to seemed to agree: Biden needed a show.
I sit next to Denny Balesa cardiologist from Hawaii attended the festival.
“It feels like the fate of the world hangs on this event,” he told me.
The party played out much like it would in Park Slope or anywhere else liberals hang out, with constant jeers for Trump and excited cheers for Biden.
But when Biden emerged, his voice hoarse and his train of thought lost early on, the crowd writhed and groaned.
Biden recovered somewhat, making it to the first commercial break without any further major hiccups. Bales was relieved. So-so.
“He’s recovered,” he said. “But he still looks like a sick old man.”
The anxiety about this week’s debate in Aspen was palpable: fears of a second Trump presidency were almost as strong as doubts about Biden’s ability to prevent one.
Hours before Biden and Trump take the stage, Democratic strategist James Carville spread the atmosphere throughout the festival grounds.
“I’m scared. I’m nervous. I’m scared,” Carville said during a Q&A with Washington Post‘S Jonathan Capehart.
Carville is confident that Biden will be prepared, but…
“Preparation is one thing,” he said. “Execution is another.”
Carville told Capehart that Biden is a “great guy,” but “not a great communicator.”
“He’s not Obama or Reagan,” he said.
At the Q&A session in the early afternoon, Katie Couric took the temperature ahead of the Michigan governor’s debate. Gretchen Whitmer.
“How nervous are you?” Couric asked.
Whitmer paused for a few seconds.
“I mean, you know, I worry about everything,” she said. The crowd laughed uncomfortably.
