Page 2 Wednesday, April 21, 2021 Wednesday, April 21, 2021 Page 19 Daily Court Review Daily Court Review Talking Points BIDEN'S VIRTUAL CLIMATE SUMMIT: DIPLOMACY SANS HUMAN TOUCH A weekly section to spur conversation TalkingTalking PointsPoints By Jonathan Lemire, Seth Borenstein & Aamer Madhani | The Associated Press to three White House officials not authorized to speak publicly such as the recent travels by special U.S. climate envoy John about private discussions. He was disappointed, at times, with Kerry, said Nigel Purvis, a former State Department climate the stilted nature of his first remote bilateral meeting, held with negotiator in the administrations of Bill Clinton and George Canada's Justin Trudeau in February. W. Bush. The White House has announced that South Korea's Moon The in-person meetings in Scotland are meant to pull every- Jae-in will travel to Washington in May for Biden's second in- thing together, which still could work, U.N. Secretary-General person foreign leader meeting. And there are hopes the presi- Antonio Guterres said Monday. dent will make his own overseas trip in June. But until then, Biden has made clear he understands the necessity of doing expectations for major diplomatic developments have been meetings remotely: first, to safeguard the health of the leaders reined in — and the climate summit is no exception. as well as the large traveling party that comes with a visit from Streamed 100% live with no backroom give-and-take, the sum- a head of state. Moreover, keeping things remote helps set an mit will be more geared to sending a message about America's example that his administration is still discouraging travel amid return to the climate fight and nudging the world toward a a rise in virus variants and COVID-19 cases. greener planet than about specific deals or action. But he has not always enjoyed the virtual substitutes. He The world is still trying to figure out what the climate gather- struggled with the mute button at a remote fundraiser and ing will be, but experts know what it's not: Don't expect negotia- watched as German Chancellor Angela Merkel forgot to silence tions akin to those that produced the historic 2015 Paris climate her own feed and interrupted British Prime Minister Boris There will be no hands to shake or backs to slap, no way to look accord. Johnson during a virtual Group of Seven leaders' meeting in a foreign leader in the eye. The small human moments that In Paris, "every comma, every period and every sentence was February. define statecraft will be reduced to images on a screen. negotiated 100 times," said Christiana Figueres, the former U.N. Biden's foreign policy outreach to this point has lacked the President Joe Biden, a most hands-on politician, this week climate chief who was one of the chief architects behind the small moments amid summits and state visits meant to flatter will host a major climate summit with dozens of world leaders — 6-year-old pact. By contrast, this week's summit, she says, "is a and make memories for foreign dignitaries. all of them stuck on Zoom. public confirmation of intent for every country to come forward President Barack Obama took Dmitry Medvedev to a burger Biden has made clear that he wants to reassert U.S. leader- with its current best effort." joint in 2010 when the Russian president visited Washington. ship on the world stage, including on climate change, after four Climate activists may hope for dramatic moments when Obama's younger daughter, Sasha, who was studying Chinese at tumultuous, often inward-looking years of President Donald countries like Japan, South Korea or even China are suddenly her private D.C. school at the time, had a memorable moment Trump. But as much as the White House staff has tried to dress inspired by Biden and announce they will stop funding other trying out some simple phrases with China's Hu Jintao during up the remote meetings he has held so far, while eyeing the cli- nations' coal power plants. But Henry "Jake" Jacoby, who his 2011 state visit. mate summit Thursday and Friday as an important moment, the cofounded the MIT Center for Global Change Science, just Vladimir Putin's 2001 visit to George W. Bush's ranch in president has made no secret of how much he misses diplomacy laughs at the idea: "On a Zoom call with 40 nations of the world Crawford, Texas, included a barbecue dinner, a lesson on how with a more personal touch. watching? Yeah, not a chance." to dance the Cotton-Eye Joe and a ride in the Republican presi- "There's no substitute for face-to-face discussions," Biden said The summit instead is about planting seeds for a November dent's pickup truck. Friday as he welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga climate meeting in Scotland, where expectations and stakes are Such moments are difficult to create in the pandemic era, to the White House for his first in-person world leader meeting. higher. But because of in-person restrictions due to the coro- but that hasn't stopped Biden and his team from trying to bring "I greatly appreciate the chance to spend time with you in navirus pandemic and the short time period since Biden took some small flourishes to virtual statecraft. For example, Biden person and to exchange our ideas face to face," he added. office, this week's meeting is more of a show-and-tell among opened his recent virtual meeting with the leaders of Austra- Biden has expressed to aides and advisers how much he miss- leaders, all streamed to whomever wants to watch it. The real lia, India and Japan with a video of George W. Bush talking es the in-person interactions and friendly asides that typically action comes later. about the coalition's beginnings after the 2004 earthquake and happen on the sidelines of international meetings, moments The bulk of the diplomacy over the next seven months will tsunami in the Indian Ocean. It was part of an effort to stress that can often lead to foreign policy breakthroughs, according be done not by presidents, but behind the scenes by diplomats, bipartisanship and continuity in the alliance. DAILY COURT REVIEW date had delivered a telling quip and created a slogan that stuck. It was and pushing Japanese carmakers to buy U.S. parts. Talking Points available at: no ad-lib and it wasn't original — a Mondale campaign ally had used it Mondale kept his ties to the Clintons. In 2008, he endorsed Sen. before. But no matter, it was a boost as Mondale limped through the Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, switching his allegiance only Rice University presidential primaries, losing more states than he won, but steadily gain- after Barack Obama sealed the nomination. 6100 Main Street ing delegates to capture the nomination In 2002, state and national Democrats looked to Mondale when Houston, Texas 77005 Against the favored Reagan, Mondale's best opening came when the Wellstone died less than two weeks before Election Day. Mondale 713-348-0000 president's age, 73, became an issue. The president seemed disengaged was working at the Minneapolis law firm of Dorsey & Whitney — he and even confused in early campaign debates. Reagan undid that one returned to the firm after the brief campaign — and serving on corporate South Texas College of Law with his own quip in the final debate. Asked about it, the president said: and nonprofit boards. 1303 San Jacinto Street "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit He agreed to stand in for Wellstone, and early polls showed him with Houston, Texas 77002 for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience." a lead over the Republican candidate, Norm Coleman. 713-659-8040 Mondale could only smile as the audience laughed. But he said later But the 53-year-old Coleman, emphasizing his youth and vigor, out- he was smiling through tears because he knew from that moment that hustled the then-74-year-old Mondale in an intense six-day campaign. Texas Southern Universtiy his quest was hopeless. Mondale was also hurt by a partisan memorial service for Wellstone, 3100 Cleburne Street Then there was the 1984 Mondale line Republicans made into a in which thousands of Democrats booed Republicans politicians in Houston, Texas 77004 IN DEATH, LONG AFTER LOSS, telling issue against him. In accepting his nomination, Mondale said attendance. One speaker pleaded: "We are begging you to help us win 713-313-7011 that whoever won the election, taxes were going to be increased. "Let's this election for Paul Wellstone." tell the truth," he said. "Mr. Reagan will raise taxes and so will I. He Polls showed the service put off independents and cost Mondale University of Houston won't tell you. I just did." Republicans translated that into a Mondale votes. Coleman won by 3 percentage points. 4800 Calhoun Road MONDALE'S LIBERAL LEGACY STANDS campaign promise to raise taxes. He said he was just being honest. His "The eulogizers were the ones hurt the most," Mondale said after the Houston, Texas 77004 By Walter Mears & Kathleen Hennessey | The Associated Press forecast was accurate. election. "It doesn't justify it, but we all make mistakes. Can't we now 832-531-6300 In the last days of his life, former Vice President Walter Mondale received a steady stream of and stepped down to become vice president in 1977. Carter lost to Ronald Reagan in 1980 and Mondale, "Fritz" to some of his friends, was a dedicated liberal.