Joe Biden is a treasure. He’s genuine and congenial in an era of maximal nastiness. Internationally, he rallied the west in a way that few others could have. Domestically, he is accomplished in an time of total gridlock and disfunction. History will view him fondly. He is by most objective measures, a great president and a great person.
It’s no surprise that two years ago, in the afterglow of a surprisingly strong midterm, the people around him encouraged him to go for it one more time. When he decided to run with the encouragement of his family, his aides moved quickly to quell any dissent and grumbling. Nobody dared move against him. It probably went deeper than that. Everyone liked him. Moving against him would feel a bit like kicking a puppy. A lot of people felt they owed it to him to let him make this decision. After all, incumbent presidents get to run again if they want to. It’s in the ironclad rules of American politics somewhere.
It’s said the Democrats fall in love and Republicans fall in line. Well, Democrats sure as hell fell in line two years ago.
Democratic politicians were caught in an awful catch-22. Try to stop him, but fail, and they would weaken him greatly. In so doing they would hurt his chances against the most dangerous threat to the American republic, well, ever. They would become the democratic Ron DeSantis. So, through a huge cloud of groupthink, inertia, fear and some genuine loyalty, nobody spoke up.
You can’t say the warning signs weren’t there. An unheard of portion of the democratic base in poll after poll said they didn’t want him to run again. I know he has a stutter, which makes this a bit unfair, but ask yourself honestly: whenever he did an interview, did you not hold your breath a little hoping that he wouldn’t flub an answer? When he walked down the stairs gingerly, were you not afraid that he might stumble any time?
Let’s be clear-eyed here. Joe Biden was never a great politician on the national stage. Even 16 years ago, he was always “Uncle Joe” even to democrats. Think back to the 2008 campaign. He was a walking gaffe machine. He ran for president how many times and got zero traction. He’s a great retail politician and gifted dealmaker, but not a great presidential candidate.
He won the nomination against a field that was a mess. Disjointed and fragmented, they needed someone who could unify the base and offer sane, competent leadership in a time of crisis. Democrats chose well. Biden won. It was however, terrifyingly close against perhaps the worst Republican candidate ever to run.
So here we are. Democrats are faced with two agonizing choices. Do you quietly fall in line again? Look into your hearts. Can you honestly say that you’re not worried about his age? Really? It’s not just his age now, it’s his age in 4.5 years. Look at actuarial tables. An average 81.5 year-old has a 30% chance of dying in the next 4.5 years. 30%!. He has another 10-15% chance of being incapacitated. Do you really think he’s the best of the best? The guy you want holding the nuclear launch codes.
And you follow the news. This is a smart site. People here are informed and loyal. You don’t fall for deepfakes on Facebook. What do you think the rest of the population is thinking?
Biden was not doing great before this “debate”. His campaign was stagnant. Democrats were unskewing polls. Even the fact that Trump is a convicted felon barely moved the needle. Let’s also not forget that Trump had a horrendous debate. The champion debate coach on CNN gave Trump’s performance a solid F. Yet, somehow Trump looked vastly better in comparison to Biden. Trump was rambling, lying and didn’t answer a single question that was asked. A semi-competent debater — hell, anyone else from the 2020 field would have handed him his lunch.
The other choice might even be worse. What if Biden is taken down? It’s chaos. Is Kamala Harris anointed? She was my favorite for a while in 2020, but her campaign was a total f***ing disaster. Is a huge chunk of the democratic base mad if she doesn’t win? Who else is there right now? It’s a mess.
But ask yourself this: were you not relieved when Trump stayed in the race after the Access Hollywood tape dropped knowing that he was the weakest possible candidate? Do you not think that many Republicans are quietly praying that Biden stays in?
Kos said a couple of days ago that Biden needs to earn back everyone’s trust. It’s not easy to do, but he could be out there right now doing tough interviews. Show everyone that his debate was just a bad night. Instead, he’s made one fiery speech and has been otherwise hiding in his bat cave. He’s letting his aides again smooth this out fiasco. It looks like it’s working too.
I don’t know if removing Biden is the right, but I do know this. DON’T F***ING LET THEM PAPER THIS OVER AGAIN! Biden doesn’t get to decide whether he stays in or not. YOU DO. Make him prove that he belongs and make him prove it soon.
Don’t fall for cherry-picked polls showing Biden doing okay or doing as well as the rest of a potential field against Trump. He’s probably already lost about 2% and that number tends to swell as time goes on.
I’m not saying to take your ball and go home. Don’t stop working against the greatest threat to the Western order the world has ever seen. If Biden ends up the nominee, continue to work your a** off for him.
But, please, please DON’T MEEKLY FALL IN LINE AGAIN. Everyone did it once before, and that’s why we’re here now. Make Biden prove he can win.