You deserve much better.
These days since the first “debate” have been a kind of Rorschach test for America. What did we see in that pale drama? What does our reaction tell us about ourself. It needs to be decoded.
First, the US deserves and needs better candidates for the “highest office in the land,” or what used to be called “the most powerful job in the world.”
Response was immediately seismic and the aftershocks continue. It may become nothing more than a forgotten moment 90 days on, or it could generate a true “gut, head and heart check” by US citizens, the people who ought to care for the democratic republic they’ve inherited.
Those two old men on the stage were not the best of our political system. It’s been said “democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.” Surely there are better ways if not better monkeys.
The first response of commentators, analysts, and political operatives was “my phone was blowing up!” That is the first take away?! As a sidebar, our phones have changed the way we think and act. Such “neural switching” also short circuits reason, calm and thoughtfulness. Witness the dither and tizzy. All emotion, shoving deliberate thought aside. That is the way of things now.
There was much over which to be concerned, but holy cow, we appear to have now created a sub political speculation game, Biden withdrawal? What about what to do with Trump dishonesty soaring to new levels of outrage. Should a network stage a debate if it cannot challenge the lies?
It was painful to see Biden struggle for words. He is 82, had a cold, had been over prepped and not handled well by his debate team. He faltered and hearts sank. There is no excuse, but there are explanations.
His opponent was in normal hyperbolic form, mugging for the camera, lying, fantasizing and evading most questions put to him. He clearly pulled Biden out of his plan.
The end of the night, Biden scored on substance, Trump scored on performance so the world was left with an old man who stumbled and an old man who lied and evaded questions. Their presidential records are vastly different. So are their life stories and their character. The debate was one night against a life of record.
Replacing a presidential candidate, late stage, is not the same thing as changing pitchers-one guys leaves the mound, another comes in from the bull pen but everything else in the stadium remains the same. Candidate organizations and campaign staffs and offices are not a corporate headquarters. Trying to tool a change of that magnitude is risky at best. It has never worked before. But some Democrats are worried enough to hope for a magic ticket.
If Biden were to exit, it would open a battle that would inevitably damage the party, and angering elements. There is a history of those who did not get their way, pouting and not voting or voting for a third-party candidate. Many Democrats believe Kamala Harris would deserve the opportunity, but there are many who do not. Her popularity is curiously low. Navigating a change of ticket to find someone who could defeat trump is uncertain. Only Joe Biden has beaten him. There are several other candidates rising in the party, potentially Trump thumpers, but the game is stacked against them at this moment.
Here is a difference in this cycle. Democrats are fretting out loud. The New York Times and others editorialize Biden needs to go. The Republicans are afraid to speak of their fuhrer’s wild deceits and excesses like claiming his opponent believes in ripping babies from the womb and putting them aside to die.(Can you believe that was said?) None of the republican gruppenfuhrers and oberfuhrers dare challenge the maga cult leader. The message here is loud and clear.
The character of political media, and the election industry deserve a close up. This self-selected sub phylum has been in a frenzy about a Biden exit. Some puff up arguing it is “good for the nation.” It takes audacity to suppose you know what is good for America, arguing for a quick fix, where there is no such option, and while the cry you raise is in tremulous hysteria. As a friend said, everybody should take a deep breath. Biden blew a debate, but he is still being Presidential, and has had by most measures, major success. Trump still whines about the election he lost, is a convicted rapist, felon and faces further legal jeopardy.
There is history to guide us here, as we speculate.
In the last years of Reagan’s second term there were serious questions about his mental acuity, evidence of the dementia that later claimed his life. He was slower, but he governed. Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke in 1919 and in the next 2 years his wife Edith ran the executive branch of Government.(That was before the Presidential Succession Amendment) Franklin Roosevelt was gravely ill in his final years, presiding over US efforts in WWII, negotiating with Churchill and Stalin. If Biden were unable to finish a second term, or chose to retire, Kamala Harris is a better option for American democracy than Trump under any circumstances.
So, maybe back away from the ledge and lower the blood pressure and ignore the media hype. It was a tv show, a media creation, not a summit meeting. It was not as though he drooled through the 90 minutes and scored no hits. Look at the video of his appearance later that night or the next morning. America is safer with an old Joe than an old Trump. As I noted, this election is about forces larger than either man. These men are surrogates for values. It is about a system. It is about truth. It is about democracy or an authoritarian cult.
Still, voters deserve better options, but you have only one good choice.
