President Joe Biden announced his reelection campaign today. This, despite polls showing that nearly half of Democrats don’t want Biden to run in 2024.
They like Biden. They just think he’s too old.
I agree. At the very least, Biden retiring would spare me the anxiety I get every time he speaks. After all, I always worry that he’ll flub his words, have a gerd-induced coughing fit, or make a gaffe, requiring staff to clean up after him.
Even so, that’s not as bad as constantly worrying that Trump will blurt out something racist or dangerous. But Trump’s unfitness in this regard offers little consolation.
Biden announces reelection campaign
Former Vice President Joe Biden has reportedly indicated that he would only serve for one term if elected to the presidency. ‘This makes Biden a good transition figure,’ the adviser said, while another said Biden wants to find a running mate that he ‘can turn things over to after four years.
(US News, December 11, 2019)
I fear Biden is making the same fatal mistake former President George H.W. Bush made. Bush doomed his legacy when he betrayed this infamous promise: “Read my lips, no new taxes.” His reelection became the first casualty of that betrayal.
I appreciate that Biden’s reelection is far more assured. He has named Julia Chavez Rodriguez as the face of his reelection campaign. That shows that, despite his age, he’s still thinking strategically.
After all, she’s the granddaughter of the celebrated Cesar Chavez. Her role will imbue Latinos with unprecedented pride. And this will motivate many more of them to vote for him.
The odds are, though, that his second term will be ill-fated. That is if he survives it. In any event, betraying his word will doom his legacy.
A Biden-Trump rematch
The last thing America needs is a rematch between Joe Biden (80) and Donald Trump (76). The prospect of either one running stinks. The prospect of both running repels.
But let’s not pretend old age is why both should go quietly into that good night. It is the only reason Biden should go. Whereas the many reasons Trump should go include
- old age,
- habitual lying,
- two impeachments,
- a treasonous coup attempt, and
- a threat to go on a vendetta if reelected.
Not to mention the fateful symmetry that nearly half of Republicans don’t want Trump to run in 2024 too. Hope springs eternal that the scales are finally falling from their eyes…
Meanwhile, national polls show that 70% of Americans don’t want Biden to run. And 60% don’t want Trump to run. Yet we seem headed for a rematch. America’s much-vaunted political system is conspiring against the will of the people. That’s only supposed to happen in autocracies like Russia and China…
Biden casts vote of no confidence in Kamala Harris
Biden will never admit it. But this announcement is a vote of no confidence in Vice President Kamala Harris. Most Democrats have no confidence in her leadership, though. And, lest we forget, her 2020 presidential campaign was an abysmal failure. And she has done little as vice president to redeem her leadership appeal.
That is why she would not stand a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the Democratic nomination. And that is despite the enviable advantage being vice president gives her. So, if Biden retires (and he still could), she would be well-advised to go too.
But Kamala’s shortcomings do not make Biden indispensable. After all, the list of new generation leaders he can turn things over to is long.
I’ve already pitched California Governor Gavin Newsom. He is the most Kennedyesque candidate to accept Biden’s torch.
Here is how Biden should retire, gracefully
No doubt politics can be uncaring and ungrateful in equal measure. But I urge Biden to take the results of the 2022 midterm as both a vindication and a valediction.
He can fairly claim he’s the most successful one-term president in US history. And, to back it up, he could cite, among other things,
- implementing a transformative legislative agenda,
- nominating the most diverse list of federal judges,
- making American politics decent and respectable again, and
- restoring NATO as the greatest defensive alliance in history.
Biden’s leadership in helping Ukraine is most praiseworthy. Because his leadership helped that country fend off Russia’s genocidal onslaught. Just as Roosevelt’s helped England fend off Hitler’s blitzkrieg.
But then Biden should joke that his kids have begun telling him he’s too old to drive. And that this is when anyone should know it’s time to retire. After all, if you’re too old to drive a car, you’re too old to run a country.
He should remind everyone that he gave his word as a Biden to serve only one term. And that his mission was to clean up the mess Trump left behind and restore American leadership on the world stage. He should declare, “Mission Accomplished!”
With that, instead of launching his reelection campaign, he should announce that he’s passing the torch to a new generation of Democratic leaders. And that he’s confident they will continue the good work of showing the world why “it’s never a good bet to bet against America!”