Joe Biden launched his candidacy for president in 2019 with the words "we are in the battle for the soul of this nation." He was right. And though it wasn't obvious at first to many Democrats, he was the best person to wage that fight. He was a genial but also shrewd campaigner for the restoration of what legislators call "regular order."
Since then, Biden has had a remarkable string of wins. He defeated President Donald Trump in the 2020 election;
Did he though?
...he led a Democratic rebuff of Trump's acolytes in the 2022 midterms; his Justice Department has systematically prosecuted the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that Trump championed and, now, through special counsel Jack Smith, the department is bringing Trump himself to justice.
Is he though?
What I admire most about President Biden is that in a polarized nation, he has governed from the center out, as he promised in his victory speech. With an unexpectedly steady hand, he passed some of the most important domestic legislation in recent decades. In foreign policy, he managed the delicate balance of helping Ukraine fight Russia without getting America itself into a war. In sum, he has been a successful and effective president.
I know this is terrible nonsense, but he's just doing some throat-clearing to prove he's Still One of the Good People even as he prepares to throw a frail elderly man under the bus.
Why is he throwing Biden under the bus?
Because Trump, of course.
But I don't think Biden and Vice President Harris should run for reelection. It's painful to say that, given my admiration for much of what they have accomplished. But if he and Harris campaign together in 2024, I think Biden risks undoing his greatest achievement -- which was stopping Trump.
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Biden would carry two big liabilities into a 2024 campaign. He would be 82 when he began a second term. According to a recent Associated Press-NORC poll, 77 percent of the public, including 69 percent of Democrats, think he's too old to be effective for four more years. Biden's age isn't just a Fox News trope; it's been the subject of dinner-table conversations across America this summer.
Because of their concerns about Biden's age, voters would sensibly focus on his presumptive running mate, Harris. She is less popular than Biden, with a 39.5 percent approval rating, according to polling website FiveThirtyEight. Harris has many laudable qualities, but the simple fact is that she has failed to gain traction in the country or even within her own party.
He further writes of Harris' inadequacies and points out that Biden could have said "no" to her nomination, but didn't.
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Biden has another chance to say no -- to himself, this time -- by withdrawing from the 2024 race. It might not be in character for Biden, but it would be a wise choice for the country.
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Time is running out. In a month or so, this decision will be cast in stone. It will be too late for other Democrats, including Harris, to test themselves in primaries and see whether they have the stuff of presidential leadership....
I hope Biden has this conversation with himself about whether to run, and that he levels with the country about it. It would focus the 2024 campaign. Who is the best person to stop Trump? That was the question when Biden decided to run in 2019, and it's still the essential test of a Democratic nominee today.
Ignatius schemed to replace Kamala Harris with several other possible Diverse Women of Color. So does a "journalist" at New York Magazine.
In a piece urging Biden not to run again, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius suggested as a backup plan that Biden could replace Harris with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass or Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
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"Biden could encourage a more open vice-presidential selection process that could produce a stronger running mate," Ignatius writes.
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In a New York Magazine Intelligencer column, Eric Levitz floats several options to replace Harris including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.).
Liberal hack Josh Barro also writes about the Harris Replacement Option in his newsletter, figuring that Gretchen Whitmer would just be a super choice.
"[Biden] has the opportunity to pick a running mate who's more appealing to voters than Kamala Harris, more credible as a next-generation leader of the Democratic Party than Kamala Harris, and more comforting to voters who consider the possibility that his running mate might succeed to the presidency than Kamala Harris," Barro writes.
How mainstream is the idea of pushing Biden and Kamala out, in Democrat political hack circles?
This mainstream: