Biden post-debate: A Shakespearean predicament

The declining king, ignoring the advice of his court, pledges that only God himself could convince him to abdicate. In doing so, he risks the crown going to his rival, who he bitterly fought off only four years previous. Now, the court must decide whether they will remove him, through persuasion or force, to have a chance at saving the kingdom.

It all sounds a bit Shakespearean, but this is the predicament now faced by US politicians. After a disastrous debate performance two weeks ago against a disciplined Donald Trump, top Democrats will now have to consider whether the President can continue in his post and win the next election.

The President, on his own accord, will not step down. A career politician of fifty years who has finally reached the highest possible office does not possess the humility to acknowledge his shortcoming and put aside his ego. It is, after all, this ego that has allowed a person to go so far in the first place.

President Biden now faces the countdown to the 2024 election at the same time as his opinion polls are dipping. If he had announced a year ago he was not running for a second term, endorsed a candidate, and campaigned valiantly for them, he would be considered a hero by his party. A President who defeated Donald Trump and passed some good policy. If now, he steps down with only a month to go before the primary, and a few months before the election, and his party loses, he faces blame for allowing an opponent he has called an enemy of democracy back into office.

If the burden was on Donald Trump to convince voters he was a better candidate before the June 27 debate, it is now squarely on Joe Biden to convince voters he is a candidate. This will become increasingly difficult as worries grow in his own party and in the media.

If the President will not abdicate, the responsibility is now on Democrats to find a way to replace their candidate before November. Even if they replace the President with a candidate who goes on to lose, at the very least the party can save face.

Republicans are rightly criticized for rallying behind someone who is unfit to serve. Commentators and voters who believed Donald Trump was a terrible candidate and President have now rallied behind him. Even if they believe his policies resulted in positive outcomes for the country, there can be no doubt that politics and civility was changed by his term. One look at the 2012 debates between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney prove how quickly intelligent disagreement has been reduced, only for populist sloganeering to take its place.

Now, Democrats look similarly to a President who has delivered on some popular policies, but is nevertheless unfit to serve. Whether by lack of civility or by mental decline, both candidates should not be their parties’ frontrunners.

So, who waits in the wings? Well…nobody. Some names like Harris, Buttigieg, and Newsom are floated around, but the party has not prepared a successor.

Democrats should focus immediately on finding someone to replace the President, if necessary, by force. Mental declines do not suddenly reverse. Time is generally not kind to politicians with declining approval ratings. If democracy is really on the ballot, as Democrats are fond of saying, it is time for them to live up to their convictions. Open up the primary, stare down the possibility of defeat head-on, and regret nothing. In doing so, you have stopped yourself from becoming just as ideologically lost as the party opposite, who are knowingly putting forth a candidate they know should not be President.