John Heilemann on Joe Biden’s Speech on Gun Violence: President Gave a Great Speech

EXCERPT:

HEILEMANN: "I don't know. I don’t know what Congress will do, I won’t try to predict the future. I will say that, you know, I thought Joe Biden was — Mike said this morning to me he thought he was as good on this as he’s been on anything in this presidency. I think that's right. As a matter of — I wouldn't call it theater criticism, but performance, he was just very clear, very strong, very striking. I’ve heard some analysis this morning that says there are Republicans who are seized on the notion that he’s talking still about banning assault weapons and saying, 'Well, there they are. They actually are trying to take your guns away.' You know, the Republicans are looking for reasons to not make this deal, most of them, not the few who are in the Senate bipartisan negotiations, and I think you can’t calibrate your rhetoric to try to, if you're the president of the United States, to try to thread some needle. He’s had a long history on this issue. He’s been consistent on this issue for 30 years of his career, going back to when there actually was an assault weapons ban, and I thought he was really super strong on it. But I think you can believe in this moment believe that the President gave a great speech, a really good performance, as good as any of his presidency, and still think that what is going to happen will not be determined by this speech. What will happen up on the Hill, if there’s a break in that logjam, and some people are a little more hopeful with that Senate group than they have been in a while, Mike, that his performance, super strong, but the outcome up on the Hill will be driven by other factors, the same factors that have stymied — if it turns out not coming to pass — the same factors that have stymied these efforts a long time in the face of tens of thousands of bodies."