2/22/24

JOE BIDEN SURE IS OLD;
HE'S STILL OUR BEST BET
TO WIN ON NOV. 5

 I HAVE A RADICAL PROPOSAL.
     Let’s stop wishing Joe Biden is something he’s not.
    He’s not a track star. He can’t do cartwheels down the ramp of Air Force One.   
    He's not an ideal contestant for  Jeopardy!  He’s not the best guy to explain the Theory of Relativity. In a grocery checkout, he’ll probably slow the line while fumbling for exact change.
   That’s because he’s old.
    So, let’s stop trying to make him do things that only a younger person can do. At 81, he can’t match the energy of a Super Bowl quarterback. He can’t campaign round the clock; can't perform flawlessly on the public stage while running the country and conducting crisis seminars in the Situation Room. He’s no orator.
   But today, is there a better man or woman to run the country and face down the evil of Donald Trump?
   No. He's a terrific president. He's an expert on the difference between good and evil, democracy and dictatorship, Russia and Ukraine and a government that's competent and compassionate and one that's chaotic and cruel.
   But some people disagree, and they wish Biden would step aside as the 2024 Democratic candidate, the sooner the better.

I KNOW HOW THEY FEEL.
     I, too, wish Joe Biden was getting younger.
     I also wish there was  a grandstand filled with Democratic superstars, chomping at the bit to run president, brimming with political ambition and experience, any one of whom can take on Donald Trump as a can’t-lose Democratic nominee.
       Man or woman, short or tall, religious or agnostic, just as long as they are charismatic Energizer bunnies, that's who I want. Prodigies, who are well-read in the Classics, but literate in pop music. I want someone socially compassionate, morally upright, feared by America’s foreign foes and beloved of America’s allies. I'd want to be inspired by silver-tongued speakers, who have PhDs in particle physics and heads stuffed with sports trivia. I want a veteran of Seal Team 6, who, in an emergency, can land Marine One on the South Lawn.
      I also wish that Donald Trump was not running.
     But he is.
     And he's running strong. I won’t bore you with all of the reasons Donald Trump is the most dangerous candidate in U.S. history, other than he conspired, as a sitting president, to overturn the 2020  election.
    So, I have no quarrel with the motives of people wanting Biden replaced. These are people of good will. They believe that the threat of a second Trump presidency is so ominous that the very future of democracy is at risk. And many admire Joe Biden - they just want to win, and they are scared that Biden can’t.
     Replacing Biden is a theme that long has been running through the campaign, but surged after Special Counsel Special Counsel Robert K. Hur’s Feb. 5 report that cleared Biden of keeping secret records, but indicted him with the far more notorious high crime of being a doddering old fool.
     Hur wrote:

We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.    

      Hur’s political hatchet job  unleashed fresh doubts about Biden’s abilities.
     Among the skeptics is Ezra Klein, the New York Times star podcaster, who is open-minded, earnest, clearly liberal, the embodiment of fairness.
      In a Feb. 16 podcast, Klein pointed to Biden’s stubbornly awful poll numbers, his fumbling public appearances, the fact that many voters don’t credit Biden’s successes, including an unexpectedly strong economy or Biden’s skill in foreign affairs. Klein was upset that Biden’s own staff seems to have doubts, keeping Biden away from public outings like a Super Bowl interview.
     Klein said:

I still think Biden might win against Trump, even with all I’ve said. It’s just that there’s a very good chance he might lose. Maybe even better than even odds. And Trump is dangerous. I want better odds than that.

     Klein offered this plan: First, party leaders would persuade Biden to step down; Secondly, the Democratic National Convention would pick a nominee with a better chance of defeating Trump.

     There is a ton of talent in the Democratic Party right now ...  Some of them would make a run at the nomination. They would give speeches at the convention, and people would actually pay attention. The whole country would be watching the Democratic convention, and probably quite a bit happening in the run-up to it, and seeing what this murderer’s row of political talent could actually do. And then some ticket would be chosen based on how those people did.

IT'S A POLITICAL FAIRY TALE.
     If you doubt this, I invite you to take a quiz, identifying the people Klein named as members of his “ton of talent” pool.
       I've listed their names.
      And included photos.
      I suspect you’ll get some of them right. But even politically literate readers may miss or mix up others.
      The answers are below.

 1. Gretchen Whitmer

2. Wes Moore

3. Jared Polis

4. Gavin Newsom

5. Raphael Warnock

 6. Josh Shapiro

 7. Cory Booker

8. Ro Khanna

9. Pete Buttigieg

10. Gina Raimondo

11. Alexandra
      Ocasio-Cortez

12. Chris Murphy

 13. Andy Beshear

14. J. B. Pritzker

      The answers are:

1. Gretchen Whitmer, 52, is the governor of Michigan.
2. Wes Moore,45, governor of Maryland.
3. Jared Polis, 48, governor of Colorado
4. Gavin Newsom, 56, governor of California
5. Raphael Warnock, 54, U.S. Senator from Georgia
6. Josh Shapiro, 50, governor of Pennsylvania.
7. Cory Booker, 54, U.S Senator of New Jersey.
8. Ro Khanna, 47, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California.
9. Pete Buttigieg, 42, U.S. secretary of transportation.
10. Gina Raimondo, 52, U.S. secretary of commerce.
11. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 34, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York.
12. Chris Murphy, 50, U.S. Senator from Connecticut.
13. Andy Beshear, 46, governor of Kentucky.
14. J.B. Pritzker, 59, governor of Illinois.

NOW IMAGINE that the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19-22 in Chicago picks one of them to run against Trump.
     Will most potential voters obsessively watch the convention on their antique TVs and social media and streaming feeds?     
     Will they know who the leading contenders are?
     Two months later, on Nov. 5, will enough voters know the name of the Democratic nominee? Will they be certain that she or she should be president of the United States?
      But nearly every voter will know who Donald Trump is.
    “I’ve heard of that guy, but not the other one,” some voters – maybe enough voters – will say.
     On the other hand, every voter already knows who Joe Biden is.
     And if Democrats let well enough alone, and don't further screw up an already perilous election process, maybe Biden and the country have a chance.
     Of course, nothing is certain, which is why this election is so fraught and frightening.
     But maybe, just maybe, enough voters will conclude that Joe Biden, despite his age – or maybe because of it – is a national treasure.