A political debate should involve two individuals articulating their respective positions on issues. However, this so-called debate was hardly that. One person lied articulately without any fact checks, and the other followed the rules feebly. And the liar was declared the winner. Such a spectacle is not a sign of a healthy democracy.
Yet, I watched the entirety of this debate as I wanted to see if Biden would present in a manner that would dispel the age issue. He did not. He underscored it. He was too weak physically and mentally on that debate stage. Consequently, he is unlikely to overcome Trump’s lead, no matter how difficult it is to understand such a lead by a convicted felon who needs to learn how the government works.
Think about the so-called debate. Trump proved that he is still ignorant about how the government. He showed that he did not yet know how tariffs work, and he consistently lied about his record and misrepresented his policy positions on numerous occasions during the ebate. Yet, President Biden could not effectively counter any of Trump’s wild exaggerations and lies. Even worse, he struggled to articulate his own accomplishments in a manner that viewers could comprehend.
Biden has been an excellent president, accomplishing more for the country than most presidents. In a sane world, he would be ahead of Trump, the leading candidate for the worst president ever. But we do not live in a sane world, and despite his appearance in North Carolina the next day, Biden has not shown himself up to the task of campaigning for the presidency and managing the country effectively for four more years. .
We must save and improve this problematic democracy. Knowing what Trump has already done or attempted and what he and his henchmen are telling us they will do in his next term, we must either save this democracy or lose it, perhaps forever. And you know by now that the recent Supreme Court decision has made it much easier to be a dictator as he has plainly said he would be in a next term as president.
Thus, serious pressure should be put on Biden to step aside. He is simply too old.
Perhaps many supporters were shocked to see him so old and feeble because the presidency ages people. It is a heavy-duty job. Trump is the only president I have seen who did not seem to age in office. And we know why. He was less engaged in doing the real work of the presidency than previous presidents.
Our democracy, with its many faults, has been hobbled significantly in the last few years, not only by Trump but by the Republican party. We must move to stop this ongoing destruction. The danger to the country is too great not to do everything possible to avoid a Trump presidency. But first, Biden and the top democrats MUST listen to the 72 percent of the public who say Biden does not have the mental and cognitive health to serve as president and that he should not be running for reelection. Else they commit untenable political suicide.
I suggest a three-step process to get Biden to agree to step aside.
First: Allow 1-2 weeks for him to step down because of this public wringing of Hands.
Second, Top Democrats would go to Biden and ask him to step down to accomplish his objective: to defeat Trump since he is unlikely to do so in his weakened state. This group should emphasize that Biden would burnish his legacy by voluntarily stepping down; however, he would tarnish his legacy by hanging on and losing to Trump.
Third: Exert more pressure. The cost of losing is too great to avoid pushing the issue.
I thought Biden was too old to run in 2020. After he won the nomination, I thought he might win the presidency, do some of the things he promised, and announce 1.5 years before the 2024 election that he would not be running for reelection.
Trump is also too old. He is only three years younger than Biden, but he appeared to be much younger in the debate, proving that calendar age is not the issue, but functional age is. When I worked for IBM in the 1960s, the CEO was required to step down at 62. The company thought the CEO’s job was too taxing for a person that old. I thought age 62 was too young to be a retirement age. At the time, I thought it should be at least 65, if not 70. Since then, the retirement age has increased, but many 80+-year-old people may be too old to be in the Office of the Presidency.
At this point, Biden cannot be removed from the nomination as he already has the majority of the delegates. So, he would have to release his delegates to vote at the convention, choosing from among the viable candidates still standing after a summer of primary-like campaigning. That was the way presidential nominations happened until 1968.
Perhaps as a senior statesman, Biden would be given a prominent speaking role at the convention.
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R E C E N T:
Negative fallout from Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board – Part 2
New Orleans teens inspire me to unload my chest — Part I
Wornie Reed is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Africana Studies and Director of the Race and Social Policy Research Center at Virginia Tech University. Previously he developed and directed the Urban Child Research Center in the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University (1991-2001), where he was also Professor of Sociology and Urban Studies (1991-2004). He was Adjunct Professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (2003-4). Professor Reed served a three-year term (1990-92) as President of the National Congress of Black Faculty, and he is past president of the National Association of Black Sociologists (2000-01).
This column first appeared online at What the Data Say and is shared here by permission.
