President Biden rules out dropping out. Many Democratic Party poohbahs have been circling the wagons around him. As though there’s no option to change course. But as a humanist I believe our fates are always in our own hands.
The party is stuck with Biden as long as he insists on continuing; and if so, then anything that undermines his candidacy would endanger the nation by helping Trump. Hence the logic of what top Democrats are doing. However, anything that encourages Biden to persist endangers the nation because he cannot win. Only a different Democratic candidate could. That reality must be faced.
Another take is that the Democratic establishment is attempting a cover-up, regarding Biden’s capability, assuring us everything’s okay, effectively trying to gaslight the nation about it. They might otherwise just say: Look, better to have a physically or even cognitively weak president (who’s a decent human being) than a criminal monster of depravity. An honest view I share. But acting as though Biden is fine just won’t wash. People saw what they saw. Which indeed confirmed what many were already long thinking. Denial can only redound against Democrats. (It’s Republicans, after all, for whom reality denial is a core precept.)
On tonight’s PBS Newshour, pundit Kimberly Atkins Stohr was all about how Democrats must unite behind Biden and persuade voters blah, blah, blah. Sorry, that horse has left the barn. I’ve given up hoping voters will come to their senses.
It’s true that Trump’s debate performance was far worse than Biden’s, in what it portends for our future. That cannot be emphasized enough. Especially with the Supreme Court having now decreed the president above the law, the debate makes a Trump presidency all the scarier. And likelier. Biden was already losing before it; now he cannot win.
Reportedly some Congressional Democrats are circulating a letter urging Biden’s withdrawal; but others fear that could backfire by getting his back up. Yet, again, the only chance of saving the nation is for Biden to be persuaded to quit the race.
There is also fear that a panicked change of candidates at this late point would itself be electoral poison. But if nothing changes, a Trump victory is virtually certain. So let’s be bold and try something.
One possibility is a hand-off: Biden could gracefully bow out and anoint a successor. While various other names have been touted, in this scenario it would have to be Vice President Harris. For all the carping about her, she actually has great strengths. And to pass over a non-white woman would provoke recrimination. Biden could even resign, making Harris president immediately — a big leg-up for the election. But that’s probably a bridge too far.
The other scenario would be throwing the nomination open. It’s not too late. The party could prescribe a more or less orderly process, perhaps with a series of debates among candidates coming forward, who’d then be voted on by national convention delegates. Something of a throwback to earlier times, but workable. Good old fashioned politics.
I’ve been a big Biden donor. He performed a heroic service, saving us from Trump in 2020. As president, he’s achieved a great deal, against daunting difficulties. What can he hope to accomplish in a second term that would further burnish his record? While losing to Trump would obliterate it. Quit while you’re ahead, Joe.
I keep writing about “a tide in the affairs of men,” and how it’s sinking America. Trump goes from triumph to triumph. Something dramatic is needed to break this deadly pattern. Now there is a powerful tide in President Biden’s own affairs. One he shouldn’t fight.
Remember King Canute.
