Honorable vs. Dishonorable Is on the Ballot

Bret Stephens: Hi, Gail. It goes without saying that we wish Catherine, Princess of Wales, health and strength in her battle with cancer. Other than that, I think the best we can do to respect her privacy is to say as little about it as possible.

Gail Collins: Absolutely no reason to torment public figures in such dire circumstances — unless, of course, they’re running a country. Princesses are obviously a different matter. But let’s move on: Who would you like to carp at first?

Bret: Thomas Edsall had a great essay in The Times last week noting that the Democratic Party is losing support among nonwhite voters. Although Joe Biden still leads Donald Trump by wide margins among Black and Hispanic Americans, the percentages seem to be shrinking. Biden’s lead among Hispanics has dropped from 24 points in 2020 to just six points now. What gives?

Gail: A great essay indeed. Bret, I do think you have to consider the exhaustion factor — everybody’s looking at seven to eight more months of this campaign and it’s not surprising that voters — especially younger voters — are looking for a little variety.

Bret: If Trump qualifies as “a little variety,” I wonder what counts as a lot.

Gail: Donald Trump is a terrible, terrible guy but he’s a professional entertainer. It’s a lot easier to be bored by Biden. And in part because Biden has a good record and personal character, there’s not much to debate.

Listening to late-night comics, you realize that they’re constantly joking about Biden’s age — I think for lack of anything else to make fun of. I’m betting that when we approach the fall with official nominees and elections around the corner, the real issues are going to surface. TV ads will remind people every night that Trump is basically a septuagenarian juvenile delinquent.