July 2nd 2024.
The recent debate performance of President Joe Biden has caused a stir among Democrats, leaving them in a difficult situation. They are now faced with the dilemma of moving forward with a severely injured presidential candidate or convincing him to step down and replace him with an unknown candidate who has not proven themselves on the national stage. Privately, many Democratic leaders have labeled this as a Code Red situation, calling for immediate action.
While these leaders are not publicly speaking out, the voters are making their voices heard. In a new CBS News/YouGov poll, almost half of Democrat voters expressed that Biden should gracefully step down and not accept the party's nomination in late August. Furthermore, a staggering 72% of respondents do not believe that Biden possesses the necessary mental and cognitive health to serve as President. Another poll conducted by Our Revolution showed that nearly 70% of progressive Democratic voters also believe it is time for Biden to step aside. Renowned pollster Nate Silver, founder of FiveThirtyEight, predicts that these numbers will continue to decline.
The debate was a painful experience to watch, and while winning the election is crucial, a President must also be able to effectively serve. The White House and Biden's allies may try to spin it as a one-time bad performance, but the American people have seen for themselves that Biden lacks the cognitive and physical stamina to handle a second term, especially at the age of 86.
It is time for President Biden to gracefully withdraw his nomination, take a well-deserved victory lap, and pass the torch to the next generation. Biden is an American hero with a remarkable legacy spanning over five decades. However, this decision will undoubtedly be a difficult one for a proud and stubborn man. Biden has been essentially running for President since 1987, and I remember meeting him in Iowa on the campaign trail. If top Democrats truly believe that Trump is an existential threat to our democracy, then they must convince Biden to step aside.
In the early days of our republic, President George Washington chose to step down and ensure a peaceful transition of power, instead of running for a third term. Washington did not want to be a king, and when his adversary King George III asked American painter Benjamin West what Washington would do after winning independence, West famously replied, "they say he will return to his farm." To which King George III responded, "if he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world." We have every reason to believe that Trump wants to be a king. Like Washington, Biden should not seek a second term for the love of our country and the future of our democracy.
As of now, Biden, his family, and closest aides are standing firm on their commitment to stay in the race, dismissing concerns about his debate performance as simply a bad night. In a remarkable and oblivious twist, they are privately blaming his debate preparation team for the unnerving performance instead of acknowledging Biden's obvious decline.
Biden and his team were outraged when Special Counsel Robert Hur released a report stating that it would be challenging to prosecute Biden in the classified documents matter due to his "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man" status and the difficulty of proving his mental state. Hur's report, which was heavily criticized, described Biden's memory as "hazy," "faulty," and with significant limitations, now seems legitimate and fair. This report goes against the image that the White House has been trying to paint.
For example, Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates claims that "not only does the President perform around the clock, but he maintains a schedule that tires younger aides, including foreign trips into active war zones, and he proves he has that capacity by delivering tangible results that pundits had declared impossible." However, a new Axios report presents a different picture, where the White House tries to shield Biden from the public eye to avoid verbal miscues and obvious fatigue outside of the hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. when he is most engaged. This may be acceptable for a Walmart greeter, but not for the leader of the free world with access to nuclear codes. Biden has held the fewest solo press conferences of any President since the 1980s, and his physical and mental health will only continue to decline from here.
To replace Biden as the Democratic nominee, he must step aside, releasing his 3,894 delegates to vote for a different candidate in an open convention. These delegates would not be obligated to support Vice President Kamala Harris. The good news is that the Democratic party has a deep bench of talented potential presidential and vice-presidential candidates, including Governors JB Pritzer, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Gavin Newsom, Wes Moore, Andy Beshear, Roy Cooper, Jared Polis, Senators Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
For many of us, the choice between Trump and Biden is no choice at all. The American people are looking for fresh voices to solve the country's toughest issues. Biden's family and closest allies must seize this moment and speak truth to power. Let him leave with honor and a legacy that he and all Americans can be proud of. The future of America may very well depend on it.
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