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**SEPTEMBER 21, 2020**

Kuttner on TAP

Biden's Secret Weapon-Compassion

****

If you watched Joe Biden at the recent town hall, you may have noticed
that he related well, and authentically, to all the losses that
Americans are suffering in the pandemic. Those include the loss of
jobs; of health insurance; the loss of the ability to sort out work
time from family time; the loss of small pleasures, from dining out to
going to the movies to quality time with friends and lovers; and in some
cases, the loss of loved ones to COVID deaths.

We are so busy trying to figure out how to keep safe, and keep the
country safe, that we tend to forget that the overarching COVID story is
a story of loss; and of the private unmarked daily heroism that so often
accompanies loss.

It's no accident that Biden connects on this level, because he has
suffered more personal losses than anyone in public life. On December
18, 1972, having just been elected to the Senate at not quite 30 years
old, Biden lost his wife, Neilia, and their infant daughter, Naomi, when
their car was hit by a tractor trailer. Their sons, Hunter and Beau,
were seriously injured.

And then Beau died of cancer at just 46.

Can you imagine? Can you imagine what mix of deep sorrow and tenacity it
took for Biden to stay in public life, to carry on at all? Yes, he
sometimes stumbles, but there is a core authenticity to the man.

In political life, you can fake a lot. You can't fake compassion. And
Donald Trump, who suffers from malignant narcissism, could not plausibly
do compassion if it was scripted.

I think people are noticing. Once in a great while, basic human decency
turns out to be winning politics.

~ ROBERT KUTTNER

Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter

Robert Kuttner's latest book is
The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy
.

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The Court: How Did We Get Here and What Will It Mean?

If Trump's nominee is confirmed, we'll have the most radically
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Democrats, Republicans, and the Ruthlessness Gap

The Supreme Court fight should leave Democrats considering power, and
how they must wield it. BY PAUL WALDMAN

Trump Says a Biden Win Will Crash the Stock Market. Let's Hope So.

Investors appear to be turning Trump's talking point into an actual
threat. BY DAVID DAYEN

What Happened to Milwaukee's Black Middle Class?

Democrats will need the support of a Wisconsin city battered by
deindustrialization and deunionization. BY KALENA THOMHAVE

Unsanitized: The Pandemic Remains the Story of This Election

Plus, BlackRock gets high on its own supply. This is The COVID-19 Daily
Report for September 21, 2020. BY DAVID DAYEN

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