Just spent a week with someone who used to work closely with Biden for many years - first name-basis, all of that (focus was East Asian affairs). His take: Biden is doing well…would have done better when he was younger. His age is definitely starting to show, and he’s not as quick off-the-cuff as he once was. He’s not debilitated by any means, but he’s just not as quick. The Inflation Reduction Act was a huge win, economically, environmentally (positioning the US as a green energy tech and production leader), and geopolitically (re-shoring from China, showing China that its true vulnerability is if it alienates the west too much). He gives Biden a B on China. He things that our relations with China hit their low point, and are now slowly improving (recent Blinken and Yellen meetings are key). Biden has made it very clear that if China arms Russia, they will face crippling sanctions…and China has no interest in doubling down on its bad bet on Russia. There’s a path towards equilibrium, he’s just approaching it very slowly, which is a campaign deal: he doesn’t want to look either too hard or too soft on China. Ukraine is the biggest US foreign policy win in decades. In large part because we let Russia self-immolate, but also because it’s been exploited to solidify our role in Europe and create a split between China and Russia. It’s been played masterfully, but then, Biden has been prepped for fucking with Russia his whole life. All-in-all, he’s pleased with the Biden presidency. He wishes he wasn’t so old, and really wishes he wouldn’t be so old when he runs again, but he looks at the competition and shrugs his shoulders.