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Joe Biden’s choice: Court cataclysmic defeat for Democrats or step aside and exit triumphantly

Some say Trump was genuinely shocked when he stood on the lectern and observed the deterioration of a political foe who ousted him four years ago

A week after US president Joe Biden's shaky debate performance, concerns continue to grow about whether he is fit to run in the 2024 election. (Reuters)
Keith Duggan's picture
Keith Duggan in Washington
Sat Jul 06 2024 - 10:00

The very best that Joe Biden’s loved ones and those who work closely with him can hope for this Saturday morning is that he survived Friday night’s interview which was broadcast on ABC television. But even if the ratings are good; even if he summonses a convincing reprisal of “Scranton Joe”, the straight shooter with the twinkling eyes, it cannot change the reality of a situation which falls somewhere between tragedy and farce.

On Thursday, President Biden appeared before the television cameras to deliver a short July 4th message in praise of American troops. He spoke for about two minutes and got into stride halfway through, when he quoted from the Declaration of Independence in a voice that conveyed energy and vigour. But then he wandered from the fairways of the teleprompter to tell a story.

“And by the way,” he began, a phrase which must now strike fear into the hearts of his handlers. “I’ve been all over the world… I’ve been in and out of battlegrounds.” Then a pause which lasted a beat too long. “Anyway, you are incredible.” And then he was back on track, signing off with a resounding “God bless”.

[ Television interview marks crucial moment for Biden’s campaign ]

The first lady, Jill Biden, standing at his side, looked terse. She was holding her husband’s presidential peaked cap. He walked past her and approached the barriers to pose for selfies with the crowd. It was far from a disastrous performance but still, it contained a glimmer of the mental frailties and lapses which defined his debate performance in Atlanta and completely destabilised the idea that he should continue his bid for re-election.

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While Biden’s health became a national conversation, his opponent was golfing. A snatch of video recorded Donald Trump sitting in his golf cart and musing on the president’s state of being. “He’s an old broken-down pile of crap,” he said.

All polls suggest Biden is slipping into a potentially catastrophic deficit

“He just quit, you know. He is quitting the race. I got him out of the race. And that means we have Kamala. She’s so pathetic.”

The derision and contempt directed at one human being from another, let alone at a presidential candidate, was depressing. It’s not clear whether Trump knew he was being recorded but he posted the clip on his social media account afterwards. That was his only comment on the debacle since the debate last Thursday in Atlanta. Some interpretations of that debate say Trump was genuinely shocked when he stood on the lectern and observed close-hand the deterioration of the political foe who ousted him from the White House four years ago. This week, as the Democratic Party went into meltdown, all Trump had to say was nothing at all.

[ Joe Biden’s lapses said to be more frequent, more pronounced and more worrisome ]

The Democrats swayed between the official line, which accounts for Biden’s collapse as a bad night caused by travel fatigue and a cold, and the counter belief that the mask had slipped: that the White House had been stage-managing their president for over a year and that the debate implosion was a true reflection of his current state of being. It leaves the party in a nightmarish scenario. All polls suggest Biden is slipping into a potentially catastrophic deficit. But he is – as he assured donors at a private meeting in New Jersey a week ago – going nowhere. He is the nominee, with all delegates pledged to him. The $240 million (€222 million) raised in funds has been pledged to the Biden-Harris ticket. And beyond that, there is the more delicate question of Biden’s pride and dignity and the fact that he has founded his self-image on being that American everyman who never quits.

Lloyd Doggett, the 77-year-old veteran congressman is that rarest flower: a progressive Democrat from mid-Texas. When he broke ranks and called on Biden to step down, he did so in a tone of genuine regret. Doggett admitted he is of an age when he can speak freely about the matter in a way that his younger, more politically vulnerable colleagues feel they cannot.

President Biden “said he would be a bridge figure”, Doggett told Jake Tapper in courtly Texanese.

[ Democrats need to find an alternative to Biden-Harris ticket ]

“I believe that he, like Lyndon Johnson, will make decisions for the country and put it ahead of himself. Despite the input from his staff and family, that he will look at these numbers and realise that this is a hill just too high for him to climb and call on someone else. I think he would find a tremendous reaction from so many of us who care about what he has accomplished, and I know he shares our objectives of trying to protect our democracy and our values and his stepping aside is probably the best way to accomplish that.”

This is the choice facing Joe Biden now. To stubbornly and foolishly offer American voters the dimming light of a gargantuan political life and probably guide the Democratic Party to a cataclysmic defeat. Or to make what history would record as a valorous personal sacrifice; to exit triumphantly and on his own terms and point the way for a younger party colleague to carry the ideological fight to Donald Trump in a way that he himself simply cannot anymore. It may be the most important decision of his time in office.