I watched the Biden-Trump debate alone in a hotel room in Lisbon, Portugal, and it brought tears to my eyes.
I can’t remember a moment more piercing in the politics of the American presidential campaign in my life, precisely because of what he revealed:
Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, does not have to run for re-election.
And Donald Trump, a malicious man and a mean president, has learned nothing and forgotten nothing.
He’s the same hose of lies he always was, obsessed with his complaints, nowhere near what it will take for America to lead in the 21st century.
The Biden family and political team must meet quickly and have the more difficult conversations with the president, a conversation of love, clarity and resolution.
To give the United States the greatest possible opportunity to deter Trump’s threat in November, the president has to come forward and declare that he will not run for reelection and that will release all its delegates for the Democratic National Convention.
He Republican Party –if their leaders had an ounce of integrity– they would demand the same, but they won’t, because they don’t.
That makes it even more important for Democrats to put the country’s interests first and announce that a public process for different Democratic candidates to compete for the nomination:
town halls, debates, meetings with donors, you name it.
Yes, it could be chaotic and complicated when the Democratic convention begins on August 19 in Chicago, but I think the Trump threat would be serious enough that delegates could quickly come together and nominate a consensus candidate.
Options
If the vice president Kamala Harris wants to compete, he should.
But voters deserve an open process in search of a Democratic presidential nominee who can unite not just the party but the country, offering something neither of the two present on the stage in Atlanta did Thursday night:
a compelling description of where the world is right now and a compelling vision of what the United States can and must do to continue to lead it, morally, economically, and diplomatically.
Because this is not just any turning point in history we are at.
We are at the beginning of the majors technological and climate disruptionss of human history.
We are at the dawn of an artificial intelligence revolution that will change EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE:
how we work, how we learn, how we teach, how we trade, how we invent, how we collaborate, how we wage war, how we commit crimes and how we fight crime.
Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t hear the phrase “artificial intelligence” mentioned by neither of them in the debate.
If there was ever a time when the world needs the best of America, led by the best, it is now, because great dangers and opportunities await us now.
A younger Joe Biden could have been that leader, but time eventually caught up with him.
And that was painfully and inescapably obvious on Thursday.
Resignation
Biden has been a friend of mine since we traveled together to Afghanistan and Pakistan after 9/11, when I was chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that’s why I say all of the above with great sadness.
But if he crowns his presidency now, recognizing that because of his age he is not prepared for a second term, his first and only term will be remembered as one of the best presidencies in our history.
He saved us from a second Trump term and for that alone he deserves the Presidential Medal of the Freedom, but it also enacted important and crucial legislation to confront the climate and technological revolutions now looming.
Until now I had been willing to give Biden the benefit of the doubt, because during the times I interacted with him individually, I found him to be up to the job.
His family and staff must have known.
They have been holed up in Camp David for days preparing for this momentous debate. If that is the best performance they can get from him, it is time for Joe to maintain the dignity he deserves and leave the stage at the end of this term.
If that’s the best performance they can get from him, it’s time for Joe to maintain the dignity he deserves and leave the stage at the end of this term.
If he does, ordinary Americans will praise Joe Biden for doing what Donald Trump would never do:
put the country before himself.
If he insists on running and loses to Trump, Biden and his family (and his staff and the party members who enabled him) will not be able to show their face.
Americans need something better.
The world needs something better.
c.2024 The New York Times Company
