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President Joe Biden had a straightforward task during his debate with former President Donald Trump on Thursday night. He needed to show skeptical voters that, at age 81, he was up to the task of serving as president for four more years.
Even before last week’s debate, an astounding 77 percent of voters believe that Biden is too old to be reelected as president.
In a sad display of weakness and confusion, Biden confirmed these fears.
One poor debate performance should not end a political career, but there have long been indications that Biden’s abilities are diminishing, which is not unexpected at his age. Trump is only three years younger than Biden and, beyond his disqualifying animosity to democracy, bullying behavior, propensity for lying and grievance, and his pledges to punish people who disagree with him, Trump brings his own health concerns to the campaign.
The Biden administration has accomplished many important and vital things since taking office during the COVID pandemic, including passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure act.
And Biden has long served his country admirably for decades, but it is time for him to retire graciously from politics.
Long-term New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who says he counts Biden as a friend, captured what much of America felt Thursday night.
“I cannot remember a more heartbreaking moment in American presidential campaign politics in my lifetime, precisely because of what it revealed,” Friedman wrote in a column posted on Friday. “Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business running for re-election. And Donald Trump, a malicious man and a petty president, has learned nothing and forgotten nothing. He is the same fire hose of lies he always was, obsessed with his grievances — nowhere close to what it will take for America to lead in the 21st century.”
In a reasonable world, both men would drop out of the race, Friedman wrote. But the Republican Party refuses to turn its back on Trump, despite his recent conviction on 34 felony counts in New York and criminal indictments on dozens of charges in three other cases. Despite his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election and his encouragement of rioters seeking to stop the certification of those results on Jan. 6, 2021. Despite his misogyny and lie s, and a long list of other actions that should disqualify anyone from being president.
Democrats, after Thursday’s debate, are belatedly talking openly of replacing Biden on the party’s presidential ticket. Doing so is no easy task, and not without serious potential downsides with Trump on the ballot in November.
But keeping Biden on the ticket carries huge risks as well.
To be sure, Biden has served admirably and accomplished much as president, counter to Trump’s lies about Biden’s presidency.
At this critical moment in the U.S. and the world, which are facing huge challenges from climate change, the militaristic aspirations of autocratic leaders such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, and a host of other areas, America needs a strong and competent leader.
Biden’s shaky debate performance, which was characterized by rampling and incomplete answers and foolish back and forth with Trump over things as inconsequential as their golf handicaps, showed he is not that leader. Trump, with his authoritarian aims, vows of vengeance, and torrent of lies is certainly not that leader either.
If the choice is between Trump and Biden, we would easily pick Biden, as we did in 2020 because of the hatred, divisiveness and chaos that Trump once again would bring to the presidency.
Yet, for the good of the country, Biden should step aside now so Democrats can quickly find a stronger challenger to Trump.
Of course, there is a huge potential downside to such a move, as shown by polling numbers that show Trump could beat most Democrats who have been considered as a presidential candidate.
Americans want and deserve a president who inspires confidence, who they believe can competently lead our country through these challenging times.
As we have noted many times before, Trump is not that person. After Thursday’s debate performance, we fear that Biden is not either.