Joe Biden Can’t Do It Alone
The president should assume the role of player-coach rather than superstar, campaigning with his cabinet members and running as the chief executive of a complex democratic enterprise.
It takes a village to win.
Photographer: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg
What has changed since the presidential debate last Thursday? A lot and very little. We are mostly where we were two years ago. An old president, past his prime, who supports democracy and the rule of law, is running against an old criminal, sexual abuser and serial fraudster who leads an authoritarian movement with fascist accents. The only difference is the old president is two years further past his prime, and the fascist accents are increasingly pronounced.
By now, several days past President Joe Biden’s debate debacle, most people have come to understand that there is no ready solution. If we haven’t heard Democrats clamoring for Biden to be replaced by his vice president, it is because not enough Democrats want Biden to be replaced by his vice president. And if the vice president is not the obvious successor to the president, then no one is.