Biden should exit. Murphy, Blumenthal, Courtney should speak up
President Joe Biden has been an effective president.
More Americans than ever before have health insurance. Soon, for the first time, Medicare will be able to negotiate the cost of vital medicines. The price of insulin is capped at $35. On average, increases in salaries have outpaced inflation. Violent crime is down and spending on green energy is up.
The ability of the Biden administration to push a bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill through Congress defied political expectations while meeting a dire need. Incentives are working to escalate semiconductor manufacturing in this country, helping national security and the economy. Biden helped rally international support to block Russia’s attempted takeover of Ukraine.
But Biden is no longer an effective communicator or candidate.
For many Americans, the president’s abysmal performance in the June 27 debate with Republican candidate Donald Trump only confirmed and amplified their fears that Biden, at age 81, is no longer up to the job. In the debate, Biden did little to expose or counter Trump’s false claims or to make the case for his own record. Instead, he struggled to recall facts and to speak coherently.
Nothing in the subsequent weeks has changed the perception that Biden is cognitively a diminished man. At this point every mistaken utterance, misplaced name or confused look will build on that perception.
Trump, 78, is almost as old. Yet he comes across as forceful. He built on that image by rising from the stage after what he said was a bullet skimmed his right ear, thrusting a defiant fist skyward.
Despite his administration’s accomplishments, Biden’s approval rating is mired around 38%. He trails former President Trump in all the key battleground states necessary to achieve an electoral college victory. It is hard to foresee anything that would change the dynamics of the Biden-Trump race in Biden’s favor.
Polling shows nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Biden to withdraw from the race. Meanwhile, Republicans are energetic and largely unified in their support of Trump. That enthusiasm gap is more evidence that Biden cannot win.
For the good of the nation, and to provide Democrats with their best chance of stopping Trump from returning to the presidency, Biden should withdraw from the race. This would usher in a potentially tumultuous, but also captivating, Democratic National Convention in Chicago Aug. 19-22.
Potential candidates would have to demonstrate their organizing, persuasive and political abilities in winning the support of party leadership and a majority of convention delegates. It would be a high-risk gambit, but one that could energize the party and capture the public’s attention. It may work. Continuing with Biden at the top of the ticket almost certainly will not.
The Democratic bench is deep. At the top of the list is Vice President Kamala Harris. Others include Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Michigan and Pennsylvania are swing states.
A new, younger candidate could better make the case for the achievements of Biden’s Democratic administration. That may be unfair, but it is true.
It pains us to call for Biden’s withdrawal. In normal times the calls would be for Trump to step aside. But these, sadly, are abnormal times. Republicans embrace Trump despite his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election, despite his recent felony convictions, despite his two impeachments and despite his steady diet of falsehoods. And that is the short list.
The threat Trump poses is the very reason Biden should step aside and Democrats must act boldly. Trump, if elected, would undo progress made in building a greener economy. He has promised mass migrant deportations, which would tear apart families and communities. Trump threatens to take the United States down an isolationist path, a sure way to create global instability and raise Chinese and Russian influence abroad. Republican plans for sharply higher tariffs and deep tax cuts would send the nation ever deeper into debt while refueling inflation.
This is not a time to be silent. Those lawmakers, all Democrats, who represent eastern Connecticut in Washington — Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and Congressman Joe Courtney — need to be heard. Where do you stand? Either offer Biden your full-throated support or show the courage to urge a change at the top of the ticket.
The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.
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