Still, there were moments when Biden veered toward embarrassing gaffes similar to those he made during his June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump, including an embarrassing comment calling VP Harris “Vice President Trump.” This came just hours after Biden had confused the names of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian foe Vladimir Putin (a comment he then corrected himself for). Biden also bragged that “we created 2,000 jobs just last week,” referring to a jobs report that showed more than 200,000 new jobs last month. He claimed that five other presidents had polled worse than him during the election year, without noting that most of them had lost reelection.
So, Biden’s mixed reviews are prolonging the Democratic Party’s predicament. That’s evident from the comments of elected officials after the press conference. Some declared Biden should withdraw from the race, while others said it was time to endorse him. With the time looming before the Democratic National Convention opens on August 19, Biden and his aides seem to be trying to buy time. Indeed, judging from his comments on Thursday, Biden seems less concerned with the political hubbub surrounding him and more in denial about his own weaknesses, both personal and political.
The president and his team argue that everyone should focus on his accomplishments and the good news both at home and abroad: declining inflation, a sharp decline in border crossings, reports that a Gaza ceasefire is nearing completion, etc. They have a point, but in a bitter irony, the best way to ensure that a Republican victory doesn’t erode this progress may be to hand the administration to a successor who can make the case better than the president himself.
A Post-ABC News/Ipsos poll released this week found that 85% of Americans say Biden is too old to serve another four years as president, and 56% of Democrats say he should not run. Biden’s approval rating is 36%. Only 14% of adults believe Biden has the intellectual ability needed to serve more effectively as president than Trump.
Of course, Biden defenders are right to insist that we pay more attention to the dangers posed by Trump. We have made that point many times before and will continue to make it so. The 78-year-old Republican nominee rambles, rants, lies and makes verbal gaffes, such as mistaking Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi. But the best way to keep Trump out of the Oval Office is to offer a strong alternative. Democrats’ warnings that Trump poses an existential threat to democracy are at odds with their claim that Biden is the best person to counter him. “If we don’t tell the truth about June 27, voters won’t believe us about January 6,” said former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio).
Again, Biden’s cognitive decline is especially damaging because he and his aides have not been honest about it with the public, undermining Democrats’ efforts to contrast their commitment to facts and science with Trump’s lies and demagoguery, no matter how morally repugnant they may be.
Trump and his top advisers seem to prefer running against Biden rather than a fresher face. A party as demoralized and divided as the current Democratic Party is unlikely to win the presidency, or even perform well in lower-ranked elections. Biden’s path to victory is woefully narrow, requiring him to win Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, plus the one electoral vote of the district that includes Omaha, a difficult task even for the best politicians at the peak of their power. Biden denies that he is in political trouble and rejects the negative polls. We think the Democratic Party could turn its fortunes around by fielding a new national candidate.
“I’m not doing this for my legacy,” Biden said Thursday. That’s fine. So what is he doing it for? The only right answer is for the good of the country. And those with influence and access to the president need to explain forcefully and frankly what it takes to get there now.
