FUN TO WATCH, BUT THEY’RE A YEAR AWAY: Dems’ gloom increases over midterms: Afghanistan fallout? “Voters had until then overlooked Joe Biden’s character flaws and the fact that he seemed much more reactive to events rather than shaping them. Biden actively shaped the mess in Afghanistan, however, especially his abandonment of several thousand Americans after promising on national television to stay in Kabul until they all got out. That moment stripped away every pretense of competence and leadership as well as integrity, and Biden’s numbers have been in free-fall ever since. . . . The problem is precisely that they’re out of touch with reality, starting at the top with Joe Biden, and voters now realize it.”