22 Jul Thank You, Uncle Joe
They called it right on the money on Friday night. The panel of journalists appearing on the 7/19/24 edition of Washington Week on PBS laid it out thusly: The tide had turned decisively against Joe Biden and time was running out. If he didn’t make up his mind to step aside over the weekend a full-on insurrection would break out in the Democratic Party come Monday. Monday, as in… the day after tomorrow.
Thankfully, Uncle Joe got the message. After weeks (Months? Years??) of fighting against the growing perception that he was too old and too infirm to be a viable candidate for a second term, he did the right thing—the necessary thing—and fell on his sword. I can hardly imagine how difficult and painful a decision this must have been and I believe that, late in the game though it is, President Joe Biden deserves a huge amount of credit for his brave decision. Credit, thanks and sympathy.
President Biden’s decision to step aside is the culmination of a 51-year political career that has been, apart from a few unfortunate glitches, a distinguished one that I feel history will look upon kindly. No politician in this country’s history has ever had to deal with a phenomenon quite like the dismal tide of Drumpfism that has been sloshing back and forth across the land since 2015. The unrepentant mendacity of the Republican nominee, the complete disregard for truth and anything resembling honor and decency, is a not an entirely new phenomenon in American politics, but never has it been weaponized to the degree that we are witnessing today.
How do you debate an opponent for whom lying is as instinctual as breathing? How do you appeal to the better angels of millions of American voters who have been enthusiastically swilling an intoxicating elixir of snake oil, high-octane grievance politics and conspiracy theories for the better part of a decade?
In the best of circumstances it would be an extraordinarily difficult assignment for even the most capable individual, and it has become increasingly apparent that Joe Biden was not going to be that individual. Regardless of how sharp and energetic he may be out of the public eye, the truth is that it doesn’t really matter. Uncle Joe’s performance at the June 27 debate had the exact opposite effect of what was required: He desperately needed to demonstrate that he still had the vigor and acuity to take on Donald Drumpf, mano a mano, live, without a teleprompter. Instead, Uncle Joe came off as a frail, doddering old coot. It was a self-inflicted injury from which there was no recovery. Whether or not Joe Biden actually is a doddering old coot is beside the point: That was the inescapable perception resulting from the debate, and perception—now more than ever—is reality.
No, it’s not fair. Politics, even more so than life in general, is not fair. Joe Biden has earned the right to his moment of bitterness and regret, but a different man—a less principled man—might have continued to rail against the dying of the light, to cling desperately to the reins of power. I think we all have a pretty good idea of what that might look like.
The stakes of the forthcoming election simply could not be higher. Joe Biden has recognized this. He has faced the music and done the right thing.
Thank you, Uncle Joe.
