Biden's Intransigence May Cause Long-term Damage To The Democratic Party

A loss in 2024 with Biden at the helm could start cracking up the Democratic Party.

I have been slow to endorse the concept of replacing Biden at the top of the ticket because I believed that doing so was an unprecedented, high-risk tactic fraught with dangers. I believed the Biden candidacy was still salvageable. The events of the past two weeks since the debate disaster have changed my thinking. I now fear that failing to replace Biden could result in not only bad losses in November 2024, but possible long-term damage to the Democratic Party.

To save his candidacy after the debate, Joe Biden needed to take a number of swift measures. He needed to be honest about the shortcomings of his debate performance. He needed to take transparent measures to assure the public of his health and fitness. And he needed to demonstrate that he was capable of independently defending his Administration’s record and make the case against Trump.  

His strong appearance in Raleigh the day after the debate was a step in the right direction. He was contrite and humble, but also committed and forceful when he said: “Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But … I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong… And I know like millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up.”

This statement needed to be followed up immediately with some media interviews or a press conference where Biden demonstrated vigor and the ability to speak fluidly without a teleprompter.  The campaign also needed to sharply rebut the claims that Biden is suffering from a neurological disorder that caused his incoherence during the debate.

But Biden and his campaign have not moved quickly or decisively enough on either front. First, he waited a week until sitting down for a 20-minute interview with George Stephanopoulos that focused mainly on Biden’s determination to stay in the race. By then the newspapers had been filled with stories about aides, foreign leaders, and donors that had noticed Biden having mental lapses. Moreover, rather than aggressively bolstering the record with information from medical professionals showing Biden’s mental fitness, the White House got defensive and relied on the results of a physical Biden underwent four months ago. Even Biden stalwart Simon Rosenberg wrote this week that “the people of America, the people of our NATO allies, and the people of the world need more and better answers from Joe Biden and his family about his health and capacity to serve.” 

By the time of ABC News interview, the issue of Biden’s infirmness had sunk deeply into the public consciousness, with one poll showing 72% of the American public did not believe that Biden had the cognitive health to serve as president. It is hard to see how to turn the debate back to Trump’s unfitness for office and his horrible plans for America when the public opinion of Biden’s mental fragility has hardened to such a deep extent. Many elected officials have now concluded that Biden cannot win and that having him at the top of the ticket might doom Democrats’ chances in the Senate, House, and other important races. (Here in North Carolina – the prospect of Governor Mark Robinson is truly horrifying.) I agree.

While I don’t blame Biden and his loyalists for trying to save his candidacy, I have been chagrined at the tone of the rhetoric coming directly from him and his campaign. Instead of mounting a defense based on the best interests of the nation and the Democratic Party, Biden’s tone has become petulant and egocentric. A proper response to George Stephanopoulos’ question “If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Donald Trump, will you stand down?” would have been “I am not convinced of that, but yes, I would certainly step down if that were the only way I could spare the nation of a second Trump presidency.”  Instead of invoking the best interests of the nation, Biden surmised that the only way he could be convinced to stand down was if “the Lord Almighty came down and said ‘Joe get out of the race.’” Challenging his inner Richard Nixon, Biden lashed out at his critics as “big names” and “elites” who Biden feels have consistently shortchanged him throughout his career, even though the motivation of those calling for his removal from the ticket is the threat Donald Trump poses to America. He is also claiming that any move to replace him on the ticket would be “anti-democratic” because millions voted for him in the primary -- even though Biden faced no serious challenger during the primaries and indeed his political operation made every effort to clear the field of legitimate contenders for the nomination. Biden also put himself above the interest of party unity when he taunted those calling on him to step down to “challenge me at the convention,” which of course is a ridiculous concept when 100% of the delegates to the convention are pledged to Biden/Harris.

Since only Biden can release his delegates, the decision to withdraw is, indeed, his alone. But if Biden does not withdraw, and he goes on to lose, I fear that the repercussions for the Democratic Party will be severe and long-lasting.

The Democratic Party pushed aside the express concerns of many voters about Biden’s age, including parts of the Democratic base, by throwing its full support behind his candidacy following the 2020 midterm elections. Evidence is emerging and may continue to emerge that White House and Democratic Party insiders have observed, but failed to disclose, evidence of Biden’s mental erosion. After this erosion was exposed during the debate, much of the party is now engaging in a very public discussion about how Biden could be replaced, raising the hopes of many Democrats that they will finally have the chance to vote for someone other than Joe Biden in 2024. Yet, if the party is either too weak or too divided to produce this result, and the Democrats lose what I still believe is a very winnable election, that will deeply demoralize these voters and cast a tremendous shadow on the Democratic Party. This is especially true since it is Democrats that have framed this election as “existential” for the very future of democracy and, rightly in my view, claim that losing it will have devastating results for vital issues like climate, women’s reproductive freedom, and economic equality in America.

I am thinking especially about young voters who care tremendously about these issues. They held their nose and voted for Biden in 2020 but were implicitly promised he would be a “transitional” candidate and not run for a second term. This promise was broken and the party got behind Biden even though young people emphatically and consistently have indicated they do not want to vote for him again. Then, when their warnings about Biden’s age turned out to be correct, the Democratic Party would still have not acted in time to save the election, leading to a second Trump presidency that will dramatically impact their futures. The Democratic Party will look to them, and other parts of the electorate, as inept, tone-deaf, and indifferent to critical issues that will impact their lives directly.

It is possible that if this occurs that young people will simply rise up and take control of the Democratic Party. But it also possible that they will reject it as irredeemable and seek another vehicle for expressing their political preferences. As MAGA spreads and consolidates, this would be a disastrous development.

Biden’s deliberations over the next week or so are even weightier than the enormously consequential results of this November ‘s election.

(This post was published prior to President Biden’s press conference on Thursday evening.)