Will the media elite step up?

There is a very important press conference Thursday as the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. wraps up. 

It is an important moment for President Joe Biden, but he will be graded on a pass-fail basis. If he does not abjectly fail—as he did in his debate with former President Donald Trump two weeks ago, or as he did in his Friday night interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, or as he did with this week’s call-in interview with MSNBC’s "Morning Joe"—the president will buy more time for his besieged candidacy for re-election. 

Biden is on a pass-fail basis for every appearance going forward. If he does elicit derision, as the three observed appearances generated, he will face more and more explicit calls for his stepping aside in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris. But if barely passes what has been absurdly called his "big boys pants" presser this afternoon, his campaign will shuffle forward. At least until the next face-plant encounter with the media.