If Joe Biden becomes the Democratic nominee this fall against Donald Trump, my choice for him will be the easiest I’ve ever made.
However, I have now joined the ranks of those who believe that Biden should end his bid for re-election. I want him to take a well-deserved bow, and help unite the party in its convention next month is about a younger, more energetic candidate who has a better chance of not only defeating Trump but also serving a four-year term.
Opinion columnist
Jackie Calmes
Jackie Calmes brings a critical eye to the national political scene. He has decades of experience in the White House and Congress.
I want to be able to say, like some other people, that it has become indeed It is clear to me that the enfeebled president must pass the torch. I can’t. I’m still torn. Biden has won re-election with an impressive record and restored post-Trump normalcy and decency. In addition, the risks inherent in the unprecedented Democratic process, which has not been planned to choose a real alternative ticket: The prospect of chaos and division – all to Trump’s advantage – prevent me from jumping just after Biden’s troubling debate performance.
But, two weeks later, the bigger risk is that Biden stays in the race, loses and returns the keys to the Oval Office to a man who will never be in the dark again. “God help us,” said retired General John F. Kelly from that possibility, the sentiment thus expressed many former Trump aides. Additionally, a Republican defeat could cost Democrats control of the House and Senate.
That’s not the legacy Biden wants.
The president’s brain freeze, bumbling response and blank face, his mouth-agape in the June 27 debate is bad enough, so bad to overshadow Trump’s fusillade that he is always unhinged lies. But the surprising thing, and what makes me think against Biden’s candidacy, is this: he and his staff have since failed to recognize the crisis on their hands – this is not “one bad night” – and let Biden act.
After the debates, we should be seeing unscripted appearances every day in the White House and on the campaign trail, not sporadic sightings. A long press conference. Direct calls to leaders and allies in Congress and the nation’s capital. And, at least, a complete neurological test panel, after the president’s doctor will be before the camera to explain the results and – we hope – reassure that everything can also be expected for the 81-year-old man. the most stressful job on earth.
Biden and his campaign on Monday finally began to carry out that rescue operation, with some success, but only after some elected Democrats have gone public with calls for the president to lose the nomination. Biden’s last-minute blitz included him letter for Democrats in Congress (“Any weakness in resolution or lack of clarity about the task at hand only helps Trump and hurts us”); which call to the friendly host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” (“I’m not going anywhere”); meetings with the House’s Black, Hispanic and progressive caucuses; conference calls with hundreds of donors and announcements of the campaign added to the stop.
But Biden refused a neurological examination: “No one said I had to do it,” he said resisted when ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos asked whether he had or would have such an examination. “Look, I have cognitive tests every day. … Not only do I campaign, but I run the world.
As the Biden brouhaha intensified this week with Congress returning from summer recess, world leaders also descended on Washington for a NATO summit marking the alliance’s 75th anniversary. for “Trump proof” organization to a possible threat for or in support of the Ukraine against the Russian war. (Among the debate moments overshadowed by the Biden crisis was Trump’s unflattering response when Biden asked if he would pull the US out of NATO: a dismissive shrug.)
Biden may be bleeding in Congress, right now. Calls for Democrats to step aside were more than a new statement of support earlier in the week. But I’m not convinced because I completely agree with Biden: Democracy is at stake. Where we disagree is whether or not he can preserve it by defeating Trump.
Strategists who helped elect two previous Democratic presidents — Bill Clinton’s mentor James Carville and Barack Obama’s David Axelrod — no longer think Biden can win. Carville, in the New York Times, Monday, proposed town hall rounds for alternative candidates before the convention begins August 19.–for an unrealistic caper.) Axelrod, on CNN column Friday, citing post-debate polls, concluded that Biden “is going to lose to a disgraced and unpopular former president.”
Axelrod’s description of Trump defines the tragic irony of the Biden saga. A good man and a good president are being driven from the stage even as the Republican Party next week officially nominates a bad man as the nation’s candidate. the worst president ever, according to the ranking of historians. Or, as Jimmy Kimmel put it (because he can find humor where I can’t): “The media has spent almost two weeks calling for candidates to drop out of the race, and somehow it’s not the criminals they blame.” (Who are also, I might add, sexual abusers and financial fraudsters.)
I’m sorry to be one of Biden’s nudges, but this election is bigger than Biden. If he withdraws, the Democrats could gather Vice President Kamala Harris, the other half of the ticket chosen by the Democratic primary voters, and the only alternative to Biden who can tap the chest of the Biden-Harris war. Convention delegates can choose their partner; My choice will impress two-term Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Things could get messy, but I’m sure the Democrats will unite with the bet. And can they win? Hypothetical race polls are a crapshoot. But a new, younger ticket image from the Democrats’ deep bench could inject some excitement into a matchup that left half of voters unhappy with their choice.
Of course, if Biden stays, I’ll vote for him – brace for the worst, hope for the best: four more years.
@jackiekcalmes
