America cannot go on like this – Joe Biden must pass the torch to a new generation

Editorial: The question is no longer whether Biden should be replaced as the presumptive Democratic nominee, but when and how. Time is short – the sooner a new candidate can be adopted, the better

(Dave Brown)

Joe Biden may or may not suffer from some undiagnosed condition, but the United States cannot take the risk that a man of his age might not function in the manner expected of its chief executive in the coming years.

The Democratic Party cannot assume that Mr Biden will beat Donald Trump in the presidential election.

And the whole world cannot contemplate with equanimity a second presidency for Mr Trump, in which he would enjoy blanket executive immunity. The stakes in any race for the White House are high, but this year they are closer to the stratosphere than for decades.

The president knew that his performance at the conclusion of the Nato summit would be a very public test of his abilities. He failed that test.

To be fair to him, he answered many detailed questions with verve and with a clear grip on the facts. His instincts are plainly sound – and certainly compared with those of his megalomaniac rival, Mr Trump. However, in front of a global audience, he introduced Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin”, and Kamala Harris was referred to as “Vice-President Trump”.

It was a wince-inducing disaster, and has only served to add to the already considerable concerns about the president that became so acute during his catastrophic debate with Mr Trump.

The question is no longer whether Mr Biden should be replaced as the presumptive Democratic nominee, but when and how. Time is short – the sooner a new candidate can be adopted, the better.

The only good thing, from the Democrats’ point of view, that can be said for having had that first presidential TV debate so early is that it meant the search for a replacement can be conducted relatively quickly.

Mr Biden is not quite yet the formally endorsed candidate, but the Democratic National Committee will be holding its convention from 19 August. At that point, thousands of delegates will gather to endorse their presidential pick, and that means someone other than Mr Biden. The primaries obviously cannot be re-run, but if a frontrunner candidate could emerge by then, then they could use the convention as a coronation.

That, of course, begs the question of whether Mr Biden can be persuaded to step aside. He is proving remarkably stubborn, in the circumstances.

We cannot yet know what senior Democrats are planning to do, but they will have much more sway if they can exert some influence on the first lady, Jill Biden – and Mr Biden’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens. They are said to be the two people that Mr Biden will listen to, and if they are joined by figures such as Barack Obama and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, then perhaps Mr Biden will let go of his ambitions for a second term.

If not, then the party’s delegates will have to use the limited autonomy they enjoy at the convention to make the decision for him – “in good conscience”, as the party’s rules dictate. It might even be a contested convention, the first since 1968. That process could be messy and divisive, but it is still better than watching and waiting for Mr Biden’s next gaffe.

Aside from any partisan considerations, the Democratic Party also needs to ask itself whether it is in the national interest to place before the American people a man whose faculties will most likely deteriorate over his term of office. Mr Biden will always be less of a danger to world peace and American democracy than his unhinged rival, but that is beside the point. America needs leadership it can rely upon.

One of the stranger aspects of this story is that it was Mr Biden himself who prefigured it, four years ago. During his last bid for the presidency, in March 2020, he declared: “I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else. There’s an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country.”

Mr Biden at that time happened to be standing next to then senator Kamala Harris and the governor of Michigan, then and now, Gretchen Whitmer – both eminently well qualified to take over from him.

Perhaps they can find a way to gently remind their president that his intention in 2020 was to do his country and the wider world the great honour of defeating Mr Trump, and that the time has come to finally cross the bridge and pass the torch to a new generation. That would be a fitting end to such a long and distinguished career in public service.