Editorial Ignored

It was rather stunning that the New York Times put out an editorial calling on President Biden to withdraw from the race. It wasn’t at all anti-Biden, praising him for the accomplishments of his tenure, but concluded that the time has come for the good of party and country.

Mr. Biden has said that he is the candidate with the best chance of taking on this threat of tyranny and defeating it. His argument rests largely on the fact that he beat Mr. Trump in 2020. That is no longer a sufficient rationale for why Mr. Biden should be the Democratic nominee this year.

At Thursday’s debate, the president needed to convince the American public that he was equal to the formidable demands of the office he is seeking to hold for another term. Voters, however, cannot be expected to ignore what was instead plain to see: Mr. Biden is not the man he was four years ago.

Of course, those of us who watched the train wreck happen were able to form our own opinions. Some of us share the opinion of the editorial board of the paper of record. But then, we hold no particular sway over the president or the party, and who cares what we think?

Supporters of the president are already explaining away Thursday’s debate as one data point compared with three years of accomplishments. But the president’s performance cannot be written off as a bad night or blamed on a supposed cold, because it affirmed concerns that have been mounting for months or even years. Even when Mr. Biden tried to lay out his policy proposals, he stumbled. It cannot be outweighed by other public appearances because he has limited and carefully controlled his public appearances.

Indeed, on the night after the debacle, California Governor Gavin Newsome did his best proxy impression.

On Thursday night, after the first presidential debate, MSNBC’s Alex Wagner interviewed Gov. Gavin Newsom of California. “You were out there getting a chorus of questions about whether Biden should step down,” she said. “There is a panic that has set in.”

Newsom’s reply was dismissive. “We gotta have the back of this president,” he said. “You don’t turn your back because of one performance. What kind of party does that?”

Uber progressive California congressman Ro Khanna was trying very hard to be supportive.

Rocky wasn’t the most eloquent in speech. But he was a fighter. His character conveyed his eloquence. Our message: Biden’s character is his eloquence.

While the general vibe at MSNBC immediately after the debate was that it was a catastrophe and Biden had to go, it has since mellowed to the “one bad debate night” excuse and regardless of whether Biden has devolved to senile dementia,* he’s still better than Trump. So there.

And not to worry if the good and decent Biden gets confused, as Khanna has a solution for that as well, that Biden will be surrounded by a great team of advisors who will make the decisions for him. Khanna twitted that. He’s since deleted the twit. It did not go over well.

It’s unclear whether Biden will stay or go at this point. One might have hoped that his closest friends and advisors would sit him down and have a talk with him about his expiration date. Maybe they did. Maybe Biden decided to push forward anyway.

But what about the New York Times editorial? There was a time when an editorial from the Gray Lady telling a candidate to walk away would have been the kiss of death to a campaign.

Mr. Biden answered an urgent question on Thursday night. It was not the answer that he and his supporters were hoping for. But if the risk of a second Trump term is as great as he says it is — and we agree with him that the danger is enormous — then his dedication to this country leaves him and his party only one choice.

Biden and his party appear to agree with the Times, except for what that one choice is.

The argument addresses those Democrats whose primary concern isn’t that Biden win, but that Trump lose. The argument is that no matter how unfit Biden may be, Trump is more unfit and no other Dem candidate is as likely to beat Trump as Biden.

The clearest path for Democrats to defeat a candidate defined by his lies is to deal truthfully with the American public: acknowledge that Mr. Biden can’t continue his race, and create a process to select someone more capable to stand in his place to defeat Mr. Trump in November.

At least for now, it appears that the Democrat insiders will stiffly walk their man down a different path. Is that because the New York Times doesn’t carry the political clout it once did, or that we have forsaken any hope of a person fit for the office of the presidency?

*Putting aside the question of whether Biden is wholly unfit or merely has “senior moments,” a president should be intellectually capable of the job at all times. There is no option of being fit some, or even most, of the time. But more importantly, if this is the Biden’s mental state now, what will it be six months from now or a year from now? Old people get older and such things only get worse, even if it can be shielded from the public until he’s completely gone.

Discover more from Simple Justice

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

12 thoughts on “Editorial Ignored”

  1. Elpey P.

    “‘Democrats DAMN WELL should be standing lockstep with their ethical and morally decent 81-year-old president.'”

    American political rot encapsulated. Democrats would have such an easier time if Biden were the opposition, from his current state to his past baggage.

  2. Hal

    This AM the Atlanta Journal Constitution also called for Biden to to “pass the torch”.

    The “chaos and confusion” that some Dems are warning about is already here, but they refuse to see it. Hell, chaotic and confused would be a good day under Il Douche.

    The implication of their continued support of Biden seems to be that an orderly loss is somehow a good thing. Winning the election, by a margin so great that Il Douche and the MAGATs can’t muster support for their almost inevitable claim that the election was stolen…that would be a good thing!”.

  5. Richard Parker

    If Jill truly loves Joe, she could end this humiliation. This country is above one single man who should retire in peace.

  6. B. McLeod

    It’s the political double-down. The people in the shadows owe their current fiefdoms to Biden. They can’t be sure a replacement Democrat, with other patronage commitments, will keep them all on. They don’t have a lot of time to negotiate with, and hype up, a replacement malleable puppet. So it’s “twice or not at all,” and they’re going with Biden unless some medical event completely excludes him between now and the election.

    1. Richard Parker

      Everyone in the bureaucracy is protecting their Iron Rice Bowl. It’s the first rule.

  7. Skywalker

    The NYT Editorial was still the kiss of death. TPTB in the donkey party are meeting behind closed doors to decide on a replacement candidate and a process to disconnect Biden.The donkey party bosses and donors are allowing Joe to continue flopping around like a dead chicken with his head cut off while they decide on a replacement plan. We peons wait outside the palace gate until the announcement comes from within that “the candidacy is dead, long live the new candidate!”

    We are lucky Biden’s handlers agreed to a debate in June. Imagine if the first date was in September?

    If the Democrats want to defeat Trump, they should nominate Michelle Obama. MO is popular, charismatic and articulate. And she is a political outsider like Trump was in 2016 with none of the negative baggage the other Democrats are carrying. Michelle would accept a draft. Her reluctance to run would be viewed positively by potential voters. Vacuous Harris could never get elected. But passing over a black woman VP for a white man like Newsom would hurt the Democrats’ chances with Black and feminist voters. An MO candidacy would neatly solve that problem.

    One interesting facet of Biden’s demise not being reported in the media is that an open convention starting August 19th may cost the eventual Democratic candidate Ohio’s 17 electoral votes. The Republicans in the Ohio legislature have been blocking legislation that would waive Ohio’s requirement that presidential candidates must be formally nominated by their parties before August 7th to appear on the state ballot. The Democrats planned to get around the deadline by holding a “virtual roll call” to formally select Biden before August 7th. So if the Democrats wait until the August 19th convention to select a replacement candidate, then the party’s presidential ticket will not appear on the Ohio ballot unless the Ohio Republicans agree to waive the state filing requirement.

  8. KP

    All part of the plan… Biden will ‘die suddenly’ so close to the election that the gullible will have to accept whatever candidate those in real power put up, anyone will do so long as it stops Trump.

    If anyone has been happy with Biden’s performance at all, it shows that the view from inside America is completely different to the view from outside.

  9. Jim Cline

    Setting aside how morally repugnant many people find Trump, at 78 years old he’s only 3 1/2 years younger than Biden. He is already struggling to maintain a coherent thought and has frequent memory lapses. I have a hard time believing he will be holding it together over the next four years even half as well as Biden seems to be doing. I have yet to see any discussion about this being brought up in any media.

    While Biden has his issues and I’m not sure he’ll serve a complete term I have a lot more faith in his VP and cabinet members advising him and Harris taking over than any of the bootlickers Trump is likely to surround himself with to keep the country on an even keel.

Comments are closed.