A year ago, it could have been a great finale to an extraordinary life of public service. At age 80, basking in his impressive accomplishments and a surprisingly good midterm election, President Joe Biden could have said he wouldn’t run for office again, opening the presidential nomination to a talented stable of Democratic contenders. Instead, he hung on.
But in this final stretch before the November election, the ending instead will be an aging and resistant politician either forced out by pressure within his own party or stubbornly refusing to leave. The latter course would bring with it a high probability of turning the presidency over to Donald Trump, whom Biden considers an existential evil, and perhaps taking down other Democrats with him.
If Biden gets out of the race soon, his legacy will have an asterisk – which is a heck of a lot better than a electoral rejection.
I didn’t come to this view in the aftermath of the June 27 debate disaster. Over the past year-and-a-half, I've called for him to step aside numerous times.
Related:
In 2017, I wrote a column that at the time flew in the face of conventional wisdom, arguing that Joe Biden could be the best Democratic nominee for 2020 – but with two important caveats. First, given his age, he should pledge to serve one term to recover from the Trump disaster. Second, he should choose a running mate – a woman – who could credibly step into his shoes.
He failed the first test; the second is unclear.
Biden and........