A year or so ago, someone tweeted, “God gave Democrats hands so they could wring them in political anxiety. They should consider using them, for a change, to applaud.” Until recently, I largely shared that view. There is, indeed, a lot to applaud. Joe Biden has been an extremely consequential president - more successful than any of his recent, more charismatic predecessors, probably the best president in my lifetime since LBJ. His historic accomplishments deserve plenty of applause. That said, however, the issue facing the Democrats right now - and facing democracy right now - has changed.
The Democrats as a party have a challenge, which they themselves claim is to save democracy as we have known it. That democracy is in crisis right now as it has not been since our 19th-century Civil War, and salvaging it right now will require a robust campaign on the part of the Democrats. Yet the Democrats themselves now appear to be in a crisis as to how to proceed going forward.
It seems increasingly likely that President Biden, despite all that he has accomplished, will be an ineffective messenger, ill equipped to conduct the campaign that needs to be conducted. This is obviously regrettable. It is at least arguable that he is still quite competent to serve effectively as president. But being president and getting elected president are two very different full-time jobs, which require somewhat different sets of skills. As JFK supposedly said, the first job of a good president is to get elected. It appears increasingly unlikely that President Biden will be able to do that this year.
That may be an unfair assessment. It is certainly unfair that so many voters don't credit Biden for his accomplishments. But, fair or not, it seems increasingly unlikely that the President will be able to conduct the vigorous campaign that needs to be conducted to defeat the opposition. My impression may be wrong. The much wiser analysts and pundits who are saying something similar may also be wrong. But betting on Biden at this point in the crisis of democracy may just be too great a risk to take, if any other alternatives appear available.
“If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get outta the race,’ I’d get outta the race. The Lord Almighty’s not comin’ down,” an apparently defiant President Biden famously said in a recent interview. his interlocutor, George Stephanopoulos said in response, "I agree that the Lord Almighty’s not gonna come down.” Actually, God can make his will known in a multitude of ways - including (more normally) through ordinary experience (e.g. aging and illness) and the shared human wisdom available through the good advice offered by others.
Better, perhaps, to leave God out of this discussion! For the issue is not, as Biden seems to be suggesting, being morally convinced that he is doing his best, but rather what is actually needed and called for in this present crisis situation. And that is a strong candidate who can prosecute the case in a vigorous campaign.
"Strong and wrong beats weak and right," Bill Clinton famously said in 2022. Against his "strong and wrong opponent," Biden's "weak and right" posture risks losing not just the White House but down ballot as well. What is required is an upgrade to "strong and right," which at this point almost certainly requires another candidate.
An LBJ-style withdrawal from the race would be a patriotic, public-spirited cap to a distinguished political career and could allow the Democrats the novel opportunity to have a good, old-fashioned convention at which they come to a consensus on a ticket and emerge united and energetic - an exercise in party democracy in an effort to salvage American democracy.
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