Biden is unfit to serve another four years. He must step down for our country's sake. | Opinion
”Say it ain't so, Joe,” said a young boy over 100 years ago, tugging at the sleeve of Shoeless Joe Jackson who was charged with conspiring to fix the 1919 World Series. At least that's the legend.
That phrase can be refashioned today to fit a question for President Joe Biden: Mr. President, do you really want your legacy to be that of a stubborn old man who, after evicting Trump from the White House in 2020, then handed it back to him in 2024?
Say it ain’t so, Joe.
Is personal pride blinding you to the national interest?
Say it ain't so, Joe.
I am an independent who wrote in John McCain in 2016. You are not my political hero, but I was grateful beyond words when in 2020 you helped deny Trump a second term. Trump remains a stain on our national soul and I will not hesitate to vote for you again if you are the alternative. But so many other Americans who dislike Trump, even some who recognize his profound mendacity, seem prepared to conclude that Trump is a better choice than "Grandpa Joe."
Calling presidential debate one bad night is reckless denial
Certainly, your party faces significant risks if it switches horses at this stage, but rarely in the face of such uncertainty has the best path forward been so remarkably clear for so many reasons.
First, characterizing the problem as “one bad night” is reckless denial. From the outset, many independents and Democrats thought your party made a mistake in sticking with you. The concern that you are too old only intensified as we watched you become more grandpa-like with each passing month. Although polls after your dismal debate performance showed only a small increase in voters who thought you too old to run, that was simply because an extraordinary number of Americans already thought so.
Second, you will only win in November if enough independent Americans conclude that anyone who can stay awake is preferable to Donald Trump. I pray that is the case, but if so then surely any other experienced, competent Democrat has a much better chance to win. Many believe our two-party system produced an appalling choice for this November. Introducing a new candidate will be a breath of fresh air that is almost certain to benefit your party.
Concern centers on ability to serve as president four years from now
Third, stepping down as a candidate is not an admission that you are unable to continue as president. Granted, you cannot be the scintillating national spokesperson we might like to have but you are certainly capable of making the important decisions required of your office. For voters, however, the question is not whether you can govern tomorrow but whether you will remain capable of governing for another four years.
Fourth, do not combine your decision to step aside with an effort to dictate a successor. Endorse a candidate if you must, but you are not entitled to simply pass the baton. The convention delegates, the ones you caused to be elected, must first reflect on a number of difficult questions. Perhaps a consensus candidate will emerge before the delegates gather in Chicago, but neither you nor some group of party elites should tell them what they must do next. That is the best way, perhaps the only way, for a strong candidate to emerge from the convention process.
Blame the media. Every angle of Trump's trial has been analyzed except the law.
Finally, you seem concerned that a new Democratic nominee will not have been selected though the process of primary elections. So what? The primaries exist for parties to choose their candidate. Your party chose to present only one option; and now only you can permit it to designate a different option.
That new candidate cannot become president unless elected by the American people. That is what Nov. 5 is for. Please say it is so, Joe.
John Franke is a retired Milwaukee County Circuit Judge and former federal prosecutor.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Biden won't beat Trump this election. A new candidate might
