FLASH
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Biden needs the help of an army of enthusiastic Democrats willing to campaign alongside him. At the moment he and his party are sleeping towards disaster.
American politics is paralyzed by a contradiction as big as the Grand Canyon. Democrats rage about how the re-election of Donald Trump would destroy their country's democracy. And yet, in deciding who to field against him in November's election, the party looks set to bow gently to the candidacy of an 81-year-old with the worst approval rating of any modern president at this stage in office his.
How did it come to this?
Joe Biden's net approval rating stands at minus 16 points. Trump, who leads the polls in swing states, is a dime away from a second presidential victory.
Even if you don't see Mr. Trump as a would-be dictator, that's an alarming prospect. A significant portion of Democrats would prefer that Biden not run. But instead of challenging him or bending over backwards to support his campaign, they've started muttering glassy-eyed about the mess they're in.
There are no secrets about what makes Mr. Biden so unpopular.
Part of it is the ongoing burst of inflation that has been laid at his door. Then there is his age. Most Americans know someone in their 80s who is starting to show their years. They also know that no matter how good that person's character is, they shouldn't be given a four-year stint at the hardest job in the world.
In 2023, Biden could and should have decided to be a one-term president. He would have been hailed as an example of public service and a rebuke to Mr Trump's boundless ego. Democratic bigwigs know this. In fact, before their party's better-than-expected showing in the midterms, many insiders thought Mr. Biden would indeed stand aside. This newspaper first argued that the president should not seek re-election more than a year ago.
Unfortunately, Biden and his party had several reasons for him to fight another campaign, none of them good. His sense of duty was tainted by vanity. After first running for president in 1987 and working so long to sit behind Resolute's desk, he's been lured into believing his country needs him because he's a proven beater of Trump.
Likewise, his staff's desire to serve is certainly tainted by ambition. It is in the nature of administrations that many of a president's closest advisers will never be that close to power again. Of course, they don't want to see their man hand over the White House so he can focus on his presidential library.
Democratic leaders have been cowardly and complacent.
Like many stalwart Republicans in Congress, who disliked Trump and considered him dangerous — but couldn't find it in themselves to blame or even criticize him — Democratic forces have been unwilling to act on their concerns about Biden's stupidity. If it was because of the threat to their career, their behavior was cowardly. If he thought Trump was his own worst enemy, he was complacent. Biden's approval ratings have continued to slide, while the 91 criminal charges Trump faces so far have only made him stronger.
Given that, you might think the best thing would be for Biden to stand aside. After all, the election is still ten months away and the Democratic Party has talent. Sadly, not only is this extremely unlikely, but the closer you look to what would happen, finding an alternative to Biden at this stage would be a desperate and foolish gamble.
If he were to withdraw today, the Democratic Party would have to frantically reschedule its elections because filing deadlines have already passed in many states and the only other candidates on the ballot are a little-known congressman named Dean Phillips and a self-help guru named Marianne Williamson. Assuming that was possible and that the ensuing storm of lawsuits was manageable, state legislatures would have to approve new dates for the primaries closer to the convention in August. A series of debates would have to be organized so that the primary voters knew what they were voting for. The field may be wide, with no apparent way to narrow it quickly: In the 2020 Democratic primary, 29 candidates filed.
The chaos could be worth it if the party could be sure of going to the polls with a fresh and electable candidate. However, it seems just as likely that the eventual winner will be unelected — Bernie Sanders, say, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist who is a year older than Mr. Biden.
More likely, the nomination would go to Kamala Harris, the vice president. Harris has the advantage of not being old, although it says something about the gerontocracy of the Democratic Party that she will be 60 in November and considered young.
Harris is a creature of California's machine politics and has never successfully appealed to voters outside her home state. Her 2020 campaign was terrible. Immigration and the southern border — a portfolio she handles for Biden — is Trump's strongest issue and the Democrats' weakest. Harris's chances of defeating Trump look even worse than her boss's.
Therefore, it is better for Democrats to focus on electing Biden. The economy promises a soft landing; workers are seeing real wage growth and full employment. If Mr. Trump were to be convicted, he could still be convicted by the voters. The most important thing is to strengthen the campaign. Democrats need to unlock some emotion and create a sense of possibility for a second term.
'Ridin' with Biden' (Moving forward with Biden)
The president is not a good activist and is against a candidate whose rallies are a cult meeting crossed with a vaudeville show. He needs someone who can talk to the crowds and get on television for him. That person is not Ms. Harris.
One way she could serve her party and her country, and help keep Trump out of the White House, would be to be sworn in for another term as vice president.
Biden may present his second term as a different kind of presidency, in which he will share more responsibilities with a vice president who acts more like a chief executive.
Either way, Biden needs the help of an army of enthusiastic Democrats willing to campaign alongside him. At the moment he and his party are sleeping towards disaster./ Taken from The Economist
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