Stumbling Biden, panicking Democrats and why it’s surely time for the torch to pass to a younger generation

Should Joe go? Even those who love him most have had to admit that his performance in the presidential debate with Donald Trump was concerning, to say the least. Some senior Democrat figures are reportedly of the opinion that it was a disaster.

After many years in which presidential debates have often been stale, enlivened occasionally by that rarest of TV moments, a “zinger”, the 90 minutes that President Biden spent arguing with President Trump turned out to be the most consequential such encounter since 1960, when the tanned, photogenic Jack Kennedy finished off sickly-looking Richard Nixon.

Neither of the 2024 candidates came close to replicating the high-minded and serious exchanges between the future presidents Kennedy and Nixon, but Mr Biden and Mr Trump’s often puerile, superficial and (especially on Mr Trump’s part) fictional contributions must make many Americans wonder afresh what they’ve done to deserve this choice. The low point was a hissy dispute about who is the better golfer.

But it was clearly Mr Biden who came off worst, losing his thread and stumbling through his answers. There have been plenty of gaffes, and flashes of wit, in the many decades of these debates, but never before has a candidate bombed so badly in any appearance that his position on the ballot has been thrown into doubt. It is the Democrats’ misfortune that the viewing figures were high – and Mr Biden’s forgetfulness has reached such a wide audience.

This was already a vital and unusually tight contest, with Mr Biden running behind Mr Trump in at least some of the key swing states. There was very little in it in 2020, and will possibly be even less in it if Mr Biden makes it to November; and the balance of probabilities must now be that Mr Trump, a man set on retribution, will be the next president of the United States. That would represent a tragedy for America and the West of epochal proportions.

Because the ultimate cataclysm of a second Trump presidency is growing more probable, it now seems increasingly likely that the Democrats will somehow find a way to replace Mr Biden while there’s still time to act. They should do so.

Apart from anything else, the party cannot allow Mr Biden to subject himself, and the future of his country, to a second such debate in September, as currently scheduled, nor, indeed, the gruelling campaign that lies ahead. Mr Biden might conceivably brighten up, and maybe find the energy to repeat his storming State of the Union address in January. Or, quite as likely, he’ll find himself losing his thread in an interview or press conference. It is a risk that the Democratic Party and the nation cannot take.

The historians, scholars and party apparatchiks can wrangle about what mechanisms can be used to replace an already nominated candidate, but, one way or another, a way should be found. It is said that Mr Biden, a proud and determined man who doesn’t fear another battle with former president Trump, will only be persuaded to step back by the First Lady and by his sister, Valerie. Hopefully, Mr Biden’s colleagues, friends and figures such as Barack Obama will also use what influence they may have to persuade Mr Biden to make a graceful exit after a lifetime of service, and doing his country the great favour of removing Mr Trump in November 2020.

It is time for the torch, as President Kennedy famously declared, to pass to a younger generation. Who will have the challenge of beating Mr Trump is by no means clear, but vice-president Kamala Harris is obviously available, as well as a clutch of seasoned governors who are plausible candidates. (A radical manoeuvre would be for Mr Biden also to resign the presidency itself, gifting Ms Harris the advantage of incumbency.)

There is also time for the Democratic Party to change and renew itself. Mr Biden – who would be 86 if he were to serve a full second term – would hardly be leaving in the kind of disgrace Mr Trump has brought upon himself. If the transition were done smoothly and amicably, there is every reason to believe that they could prevail over Mr Trump – who, at 78, is hardly an energetic alternative to the incumbent – and particularly if they win back some of the support Mr Biden has lost among Black and Hispanic voters.

There is an art of turning a crisis into an opportunity. The Democratic Party certainly needs to do precisely that, and sooner rather than later.