It’s Time for Joe Biden to Pass the Torch to a New Generation of Democrats - Horowitz
Rób Horowitz, MINDSETTER™
It’s Time for Joe Biden to Pass the Torch to a New Generation of Democrats - Horowitz
Simply put, the debate was an unmitigated disaster for President Biden. Nearly 3-out-of- 4 likely voters came into the debate thinking he was too old to be an effective president in his next term. His performance confirmed and solidified that belief. More than 7-in-10 (72%) registered voters now say that Joe Biden does not have the mental & cognitive health to serve as president today—even before we get to a next term, according to a CBS News/YouGov Poll conducted since the debate. This is a 7% increase in the electorate as a whole, with larger increases among Democrats and Independents, in those thinking President Biden is not fit to serve. In other words, instead of easing the number one concern voters have about his candidacy, Joe Biden’s debate performance substantially increased it.
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Overall, more than 2-out-of-3 debate watchers thought that Donald Trump outperformed the president, according to a CNN instant poll of debate watchers. A 538/Ipsos Poll yielded similar results.
This is despite the fact that Mr. Trump did little to help himself in the debate, according to focus groups and dial groups conducted by media outlets, organizations and campaigns, The former president’s refusal to answer questions even when asked the 2nd time and utterance of easily recognized falsehoods, including saying that all legal experts and most voters wanted Roe v. Wade overturned and that there was massive fraud in the 2020 election, reminded viewers of what they don’t like about him. CNN’s Daniel Dale counted 29 falsehoods and PolitiFact and other fact-checkers documented similar amounts. While undecideds and swing voters believe that he bested Mr. Biden, they still found his performance off-putting. This is one of the reasons that the debate is not producing gains for Mr. Trump in the horserace as measured in post-debate polls.
This should be small comfort, however, for Mr. Biden. Contrary to the spin by his campaign operatives and surrogates, this debate performance was far more problematic than the usual less-than-stellar debate performances we have learned to expect from incumbent presidents in their first general election outing. The only one that is remotely analogous was Ronald Reagan’s occasionally halting performance in his 1st debate against Walter Mondale in 1984, which raised concerns about whether the then 73-year-old president was too old and narrowed his lead in the polls temporarily. Viewing that debate in preparation for writing this column, compared to Biden’s performance on Thursday night, Ronald Reagan looked and sounded like he had just had a long drink from the fountain of youth. Additionally, Reagan went into that debate with a majority of Americans approving of the job he was doing as president; the same cannot be said for Joe Biden whose approval ratings are hovering only a little bit above 40%.
Going forward, the inescapable problem is that Joe Biden’s diminished capacity to publicly communicate has been evident over the past year or so. It is why I and other observers who believe he has been a very good president urged him last fall before he announced his candidacy to seriously consider not running for another term: READ HERE. This debate is by far the worst and most damaging example of his communications difficulties, but it is far from the only one. These are not issues that usually get better with time.
The silver lining in this situation is that the early scheduling of this debate leaves sufficient time for President Biden to bow out of the race and pass the torch to a capable new generation of Democrats. As the president himself deeply believes and has repeatedly said Donald Trump is an existential threat to our democracy. In his January announcement speech at Valley Forge, Joe Biden declared, "Trump's assault on democracy isn't just part of his past. It's what he's promising for the future." On Thursday night, Donald Trump embraced a fictional view of January 6th, refusing to accept any responsibility for his role and marinated in the Big Lie, providing no reassurance that he would adhere to democratic and constitutional norms if returned to the Oval Office.
Given the extraordinarily high stakes in this election, Thursday night’s debate performance confirms that it is too large a roll of the dice for Mr. Biden to continue his candidacy Since Donald Trump remains unpopular with a significant majority of Americans expressing an unfavorable view of him, if Mr. Biden stays in the race he could still win. There are a number of younger Democrats, however, who would be far stronger candidates and solid favorites to defeat him. If Biden leaves the race, those that are willing to enter the fray can compete for the nomination at an open Democratic Convention to be held in Chicago in August. The possibilities include an impressive set of governors, such as Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Wes Moore and Andy Beshear, as well as Vice-President Harris.
Biden has conducted a presidency of which he can be proud, passing landmark climate legislation, winning the adoption of a bipartisan infrastructure bill, and reenergizing American manufacturing, among other impressive domestic accomplishments. He has masterfully led the strengthening and expansion of NATO, assembling a coalition that has providing the brave Ukrainians with the assistance needed to repel a brutal and unjustified Russian invasion. All these accomplishments as well as the democratic values most of us cherish are imperiled by a Trump victory.
It is time for President Biden to put country first and make the difficult decision to stand down.