I don't think he's really doing anything to appease critics. He's not doing bad, he's just not doing well either. I'm sure the "Vice President Trump" bit will make its way around pretty quick.
As someone who is in the camp of calling for Biden to step down, if he would've just done this during the debate, we wouldn't have ever had a problem. Sure, he stumbled and mixed names up... Whatever. George W Bush did far worse, let alone Trump. But that debate performance? That looked closer to outright dementia, I'm sorry. And now in the back of everyone's minds is when is the inevitable next time he does this? For he certainly isn't getting any younger, and that sure as shit wasn't a cold. Meanwhile the apathetic battleground swing-voters who will decide this election and hate both candidates just got the confirmation they needed to say, "both sides / they're all the same."
Oh please... I don't have to be a fucking doctor to have that perception while also having gone through several of these cases with grandparents and Great-grandparents alike. Like... Are ya blind? Show me Obama doing something like that on the debate stage. Hell even show me 2012 Biden doing that.
Okay sure I'll cede that. For your part can you go back and read that I wrote, "closer to dementia-like"? Old age, dementia... Whether it truly was dementia or not skirts bottom-line that there is no good excuse for that. The problem is Trump is old but was far more coherent (and simply his usual pathologically-lying self).
A board-certified neurologist stated on NBC the other night that "it is a fact that he has Parkinson's" based on a variety of his behaviors, the slow and low-toned voice being one indicator of many.
Yeah certainly not kosher to diagnose remotely short of physically visiting with patient or reading their file; but I do suspect it can be pretty obvious for an expert to see whose symptoms are (a) largely on public display, and (b) said behaviors are pretty unique to Parkinson's. But nevertheless, he's the expert not me. Seems pretty obvious to me that Biden is certainly declining.