How's this for an indicator of the state of the Democratic Party?

I just got a letter in the mail from PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA as the upper corner indicated, raising money for the Democratic Party. I imagine I got this mailpiece after my name was placed on a list of campaign donors, something that would have happened after I bought a souvenir Obama sticker at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. The Obama database is forever.

What does Obama say in the letter? The usual blather, calling for Democratic unity, as well as the need to get rid of President Trump.

Left unsaid, anywhere at all in the two-page letter, was any mention of Joe Biden, the party's nominee. No endorsement, no praise for the man as a worthy successor, no nothing. The letter itself looked like a disguised appeal to leftists associated with Bernie Sanders to come onboard with the Democrats, and don't let the grossout factor of the Democratic Party's nominee stop you. Oh, and -- your real president is PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, like the unadorned masthead says. Nobody talks about President Joe Biden.

It begins (with bracket notations mine:

Dear Monica,

In 2018, our Party set a new standard at the ballot box, breaking records for turnout [read: ballot harvesting] and ushing in a new wave of leaders [like Katie Hill?] who better reflect the America we see in our communities and workplaces every day. And now, the presidential campaign is building off that momentum. That's good -- beccause weh it comes to the 2020 election, the stakes couldn't be higher [even though we can't bear to mention the nominee].

Here's the thing: this year is our chance to make sure our shared values are represented in the Oval Office [sounds like a place at the table among other places]-- our values of decency, honesty, and progress; our belief in expanding opportunity for everyone, no matter what we look like, how we worship, or who we love. [What is this, one voice among many? What other values are going to be represented in a Joe Biden administration?]

That's why I am so proud to talk to ou about the DNC's Democratic Unity Fund.

No candidate, committee, or supporter can win alone [especially not Biden], which is something I learned firsthand back in 2008, and again in 2012. I know that it's going to take all of us [read: Bernie supporters] working together, doing everything we can, to make sure we're in the best position when it comes time to vote on November 3 -- and I don't just mean voting for [an unnamed] president. This is about making progress on every issue, in ever office, and at every level.

Translation: We know you loathe Joe so we won't bring him up in this letter to you raising funds. No talk about Joe being the pride of the party, the embodiment of its values, the great hope of progressivism forever. This sounds more like triage, getting the Democrats to contribute money despite the fact that they can't stand the nominee. Obama brings up the downballot candidates, and later on in the letter, natters on about some community organizing-type program he's got, an "unprecedented investment in the next generation" of leaders. "Steps today", better leaders tomorrow. "The change we need won't come from one election alone," Obama notes. 

Translation: We know you can't stand pervy old Joe, but donate anyway, for the sake of the better people we promise you in the next round of elections. Joe's just one election, Obama's got future elections in mind as he makes his pitch.

Bottom line, he can't stand Joe Biden and he won't endorse him. His pitch is solely focused on keeping the party alive today with money, not for old Joe's sake, but so can live to fight another battle with some other candidate at some other date.

Now, it's possible the legal rules forbid the mention of Biden's name, although I think that would be strange, given that they are a political organization. What's more, such a non-mention would have been unthinkable for Obama himself when he was either a candidate or a president. He'd always be mentioned with pride.

Which goes to suggest a humongous enthusiasm gap going on with the different factions of Democrats. When you've got to raise money and can't bear to name the candidate of your own party, you know there's an enthusiasm deficit.

Good. Even Obama can't quite bring himself to put in a good word to Democrats on behalf of Creepy Joe.