***To read the full blog, please check out the complete post on NewsBusters***
Following the ABC Democratic debate in New Hampshire on Friday, CNN’s panel of liberal journalists and activists were mostly in agreement when panning the performance and campaign strategy of former Vice President Joe Biden. Between them, the panel painted an image of an “angry” old man shouting “get off my lawn” across the stage, while failing to “inspire” people to donate to his campaign.
Former Obama adviser David Axelrod seemed perplexed by Biden’s “uneven” performance where he would wonder back and forth between being pleasant and angry. “There were times when it worked, there were time when it got a little bit like the ‘get off my lawn’ kind of thing where you just want to move back from the TV set. He got in a weird exchange with Tom Steyer, of all people, who didn't really warrant an angry rebuttal but got one anyway,” he gawked.
Axelrod was also befuddled by why Biden would go and admit this campaign was prepared to get walloped again:
The oddest thing – I thought he was more energetic than past debates. But started off and this was a tell by saying, “we took a hit in Iowa and we're going to take a hit here too.” Announcing -- usually, you have staff go out and spin expectations. And you don’t do it from the stage of a debate.
So, I think that gave you a little window into the mindset of the campaign. And they're looking to South Carolina. A lot of this debate sounded like it was a South Carolina debate around issues of racial justice and equity. But I think Biden clearly is indicating that he wants to get out of New Hampshire and past New Hampshire and trying to get to South Carolina.
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