The first days of March 2020 will be remembered as the Great Consolidation, the moment the Democratic Party establishment finally realized it was stuck with Joe Biden and finally, with the phoniest enthusiasm, embraced him as their man.

The Great Consolidation was impressive for a last-minute, slapdash operation. Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar dropped out of the race, endorsing Biden. Former candidate Beto O’Rourke endorsed Biden in an attempt to improve his prospects in Texas. By continuing her campaign despite having no plausible democratic path to the nomination, Elizabeth Warren sought to split the progressive vote going into Super Tuesday, ultimately boosting Biden. Michael Bloomberg continued to crowd the moderate lane, but his presence was tolerated on account of his commitment to derailing Biden’s main opponent Bernie Sanders and the vast personal fortune he can dedicate to this project.

But the Great Consolidation had one major flaw: Joe Biden himself. Biden appears to suffer from a particular type of cognitive deterioration that affects the content of his speech, more than its cadence or delivery, so that it’s possible to feel as though one is following along until the realization dawns that the substance is incomprehensible, and has been the entire time. This is one of the primary reasons the Democratic Party’s donors and kingmakers were hesitant to close ranks around Biden early on. On the one hand, he poses no threat to the party’s basic corporate-friendly program, but on the other, it’s difficult to miss that his mind is going soft.