Amid their multitude of self-inflicted wounds, the leaders of the Democratic Party still must answer one burning question: “Do we want to fight to retain the White House in 2024, or do we want to fold our hand and put everything into 2028?”

While various consultants and staff members will often spin it as an incredibly complex effort in order to justify their exorbitant fees or six-figure salaries, running — and hopefully winning — a presidential campaign still comes down to a few basics: message, money, name recognition, perception, toughness and basic math.

For instance, some Republicans have argued that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had all but “message” and “perception.” To many, he was simply a more civil version of former President Donald Trump, minus the charisma and “It factor.” For those voters, DeSantis was unable to articulate a valid reason for them to switch from Trump to him.

When it comes to those few basics it takes to run and win a presidential campaign, every Democrat I speak with believes their party is in serious trouble come November if either President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris is heading the ticket. For them, perception is now the problem.

Their fear is that a majority of voters now view Biden as being too old and feeble;........

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