Reflections, and questions, in the wake of Joe Biden’s honorable decision to be a one-term president:
Biden was treated badly during the intense media effort of the past month to pressure him to withdraw his candidacy. Ridicule and recriminations, damning with faint praise (as opposed to Trump, whom we continue to praise with faint damns). Biden deserved better.
But it must be a tremendous relief not to have his every move and utterance micro-analyzed.
Trump is the old guy now. Let’s see how he likes it.
Biden has set the parameter: 82 is now the outer limit for presidents.
But that won’t stop Trump from running again in 2028, whether he wins or loses this time, if he isn’t in jail by then — and maybe even then.
Biden, meanwhile, is going out on top, with a better record than most. He did more good in four years than most presidents do in eight.
He stepped forward when we needed him most and defeated the greatest threat to this country since the Civil War. With the thinnest of governing margins, he and his administration and the barely Democratic Congress produced a record of legislative accomplishments unmatched since the 1960s. They also proved everyone wrong about the economy, which has remained consistently strong, despite the doomsayers. We cannot overestimate what Joe Biden has meant to this democracy. He was the right guy at the right time.
The next 100 days, on the other hand, will make — or break — the Democratic Party. It is the proverbial opportunity riding on a dangerous wind.
Trump is sure he’ll win, but however cocky, I’ll bet he wakes up in a cold sweat these days at the thought of losing to a woman of color.
Is this country still too racist and sexist to elect a woman of color? We’re about to find out.
Biden’s bow-out has put the onus on us. Hmmm, “The Onus is On Us” might make a catchy campaign slogan. No excuses. It’s up to us.
Here’s another: Will we “Unite at the United Center”? Republicans blindly conform. But what does it mean to truly unite? All I know is if the pro-democracy coalition holds, Trump can’t win. We proved that in 2020. If we’re united, energized and mobilized, I don’t much care who tops the ticket at this point. But Kamala seems the obvious, and best, choice. And if Trump gets beat by a woman of color, that would be justice at its most poetic.
Biden just did something noble, a word that doesn’t exist in Trump’s vocabulary. Will we rise to this occasion or fade into fatal passivity? Will we prove worthy of his sacrifice?
The last thing he wanted to do was leave this race. He did it anyway. That’s heroism. He bowed out with grace and with honor. That’s class. He led with his heart and his head and he listened, conducting a master class on leadership and setting a great example for his successor. That’s a legacy.
Biden has earned his place in our hall of heroes. Will we do likewise? Will we be remembered as the Next Greatest Generation, the one that saved democracy? We cannot escape history, Lincoln said during the Civil War. He saved government of the people, by the people, for the people. What will history say about us someday?
Will we unleash what has been so long pent up and turn back this extremist, authoritarian tide? Will we see a genuine voter uprising at last?
Biden’s single term has been a minor miracle. He and his administration made the federal government work better for most Americans — which is essential to our national security. Imagine what might happen with a governing majority.
For now, the onus is on us — to work our own miracle: Getting Biden’s successor somehow, someway elected in roughly 100 days is just the first step.
Whatever happens in the uncertain four months ahead, this much is clear:
Joe Biden is a man of remarkable character.
And he is one very special president.