This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory… – Franklin D Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address
Paralysis
The Democratic Party (my Democratic Party) is paralyzed. We are paralyzed by fear, “…nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror…” The public emotion that FDR faced in 1933, and what we Democrats face today, isn’t all that different. Roosevelt looked out at a Nation shaken by economic collapse, wondering whether the American experiment in democracy would survive or live up to its promise. Today, Democrats look at the possibility of Donald Trump winning back the Presidency, now made even more possible by the assassination attempt. With him comes the atrocity of Project 2025 and the likely end of American democracy. Democrats are responding with that same kind of fear. We want and need, to be sure that our candidate for President can win.
Joe Biden stumbled in the worst possible way in the Presidential Debate, now three weeks ago. His “one job” was to show America that his eighty-one years of age does not impact his ability to govern and campaign. He failed miserably. In the debate, he seemed confused, unresponsive, and most importantly of all, unable to prosecute the case against Donald Trump. As Biden himself would say, “It was a big F-ing deal”. He blew it. It shook Democrats to the core. We felt that deep, ugly, empty feeling that we woke up with on the morning after the 2016 election. It led to this terror, the terror of the possibility of Trump winning. And, reasonably, many asked what alternatives there might be to Joe Biden.
Baked-in
President Biden spent the last three weeks trying to convince us (Democrats) that the Debate was an aberration, not a new reality. Those efforts, more than twenty campaign speeches, one-on-one interviews, a full NATO summit, the NATO press conference, and the post assassination attempt calls and speeches; lead to the following conclusions.
First, Biden is an older version of himself. He stutters, he over-thinks answers to questions, he gets names wrong (Putin for Zelenskyy, Trump for Harris). It’s what he’s been doing for his entire very long political career. Joe Biden was never an orator like Barack Obama or Bill Clinton. Look up the word “gaffe” in the dictionary, and there’s Joe Biden’s picture.
But those issues were “baked-in” to Joe Biden. It’s not fair to complain that he’s doing what he always did – those flaws were already “litigated” back in 2008, 2012, and 2020.
Answers
Second, the questions that was answered this week are; can Joe Biden still “think”; can he prosecute the case against Trump, and can he still lead our Nation.
In his press conference after the NATO meetings, Biden showed a complex and thoughtful thought process. He gave us a vision of the world, balanced between Russian expansionism, NATO unity, Chinese economic needs, and America’s strength. His answers were insightful and complicated, and his explanations were cogent.
In the post -Trump assassination attempt speeches and statements, Biden showed his continuing leadership. He put aside his vast differences with Trump to show not only concern, but to lead a Federal process to improve protection for his opponent and himself.
The President can still “think”; he still has a broad and deep grasp of the problems of the world. And in his campaign appearances with the AFL-CIO and in Michigan and last night’s interview with Lester Holt, Biden began to articulate the case against Donald Trump. It isn’t as forceful as many Democrats would like, but he is laying out his reasons, and raising the stakes.
Bring Back Obama
After three weeks, we know that Biden can still do it. So why are some Democrats still calling for Biden to “take his laurels and leave”?
It goes back to the “nameless terror” we felt both that Wednesday morning in November 2016 and Thursday night just three weeks ago. It comes from staring into the abyss of another Trump Administration, this one without “guardrails”, better organized and programmed to alter America beyond recognition. When Biden released that terror on debate night, it sent Democrats on a fruitless search for a new candidate, any candidate, to lead us away from our nightmare.
We search for a brilliant, articulate, “super star”, to make this election unquestionable. We long for a candidate who is a “sure thing”. To put it bluntly, we don’t want Biden, or Hillary; we want Barack Obama back. And that’s not going to happen.
Frankly, Biden might well be a “better President” than Obama. When you look at legislative success and improvements made, Biden is a better “legislator” than Obama ever was. Of course he is: Biden spent thirty years in the United State Senate. He was a career legislator. He intimately knows the process of getting things done in Congress. Biden is like Taft was to Teddy Roosevelt, or Johnson (the Great Society and Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts) to John F Kennedy. Obama is the orator, the leader, the ground breaker. Biden is the grinder, the man who gets things done. It’s no wonder folks love what Biden did, but don’t credit Biden for doing it. He doesn’t have the star power of a Roosevelt, Kennedy, or of Barack and Michelle.
Divide and Lose
Democrats are looking for a “star”. It’s not Biden, or Vice President Harris. And while there’s a huge “bench” of possible candidates, raring to go in 2028; it’s really not their time. Here’s why.
If Biden were to “retire” from the race, almost 4000 delegates to the Democratic Convention, delegates pledged specifically to Biden, would be “free”. The maelstrom of a truly open convention, where delegates would be required to choose a “runner-up” candidate, is likely to leave the Party divided and broken. The list of possible candidates is long: Harris, Newsom, Whitmer, Moore, Buttigieg, (among others). That process looks like the quickest way to get Trump elected in 2024.
If Biden were to “command” his delegates to vote for Vice President Harris, most would obey. Harris could also tap into the over $200 million in Biden/Harris campaign funds, something that other candidates could not. And Harris is the obvious heir-apparent, Biden’s specific choice to follow his Presidency. The “maelstrom” would be avoided, and the Party united. But while I like the Vice President, she isn’t the “star” Democrats seek. And with her Presidential candidacy comes the unspoken worry: is America ready to elect a Black woman as President? Are Democrats willing to take that chance, here, now, in the face of Trump?
On Us
And so, my fellow Democrats, let me mis-quote another of our favorite Presidents: “…ask not what the Presidential candidate can do for you, but what you can do for the Presidential candidate”. Stop looking for a “knight in armor” to come and rescue us from Trump. The safest, sanest thing to do is to nominate Joseph R Biden, gaffes and all. Nominate Biden knowing that he’s an effective President but not a “star”. Nominate Biden, then get to work as FDR said, “…(W)ith that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory…”
It’s not just on Joe Biden. It’s on each of us.
