President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he is withdrawing from the presidential race and will not seek re-election in 2024. This follows his disastrous performance in the debate on June 27, multiple other literal and figurative stumbles since then, and—to top it off—a third bout of Covid-19.
Biden’s withdrawal represents a betrayal of democratic principles that the American Left insistently claims to defend. He won the primaries and secured the delegates necessary to win the Democratic Party’s nomination when its convention meets next month. Now, with no apparent plans for any competitive process that will be decided by Democratic voters, he appears ready to hand over the nomination.
No sitting U.S. president has withdrawn from a presidential campaign since Lyndon Johnson in 1968, in the midst of a disastrous war that he did much to create and for which he was widely blamed and widely despised. Johnson and Harry Truman, the next most recent incumbent U.S. president to decline to run for reelection, were both Democrats who lived to see their party lose in the same year’s general election.
Biden’s imminent withdrawal had been rumored since late last week, but nobody was really sure if he would drop out. Some Democrats believed he would and should remain in the race, offering excuses for his obvious physical and cognitive decline right up to the very end. Others more cynically reasoned that self-interested people around Biden would buttress his inclination to stay in. Behind the scenes, as many reports indicated, a rising chorus of Democratic officeholders, donors, and staffers—including White House personnel—maintained that the incumbent could not win his race against former, and increasingly likely, future president Donald J. Trump.
The most convincing argument was in the polls. Biden has been losing to Trump consistently for nearly a year, with Trump’s victory margins rising steadily—both in the national popular vote and in crucial electoral college “swing states”—as Biden made more gaffes and as his administration faced more and more accusations of relying on government prosecutorial power to attempt to disqualify Trump, through criminal trials that are widely believed to be bogus.
After the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump, the former president’s candidacy became rocket propelled by a heroic aura. At the Republican Party’s national convention he effectively consolidated the GOP as a populist conservative movement under his undisputed personal leadership. Both events appear to have increased Trump’s popularity, with the vital swing state of Michigan registering a decisive seven-point polling lead in his favor just hours before Biden’s withdrawal.
In a publicly released letter on Sunday afternoon, Biden, 81, announced that he believes “it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.” He offered no specific explanation, but it is not difficult to say what almost all Americans—including an overwhelming majority of Democrats—were thinking. Biden was a terrible candidate, building on a dismal legacy as a highly unpopular president, and the polls strongly suggested a negative outcome for him in the November elections. His decision to withdraw was not a gracious, statesmanlike act of civic courage, as leftists have already begun to argue, but a cold realization of undeniable facts.
The most obvious question raised by Biden’s announcement was who the new Democratic nominee will be. While Biden thanked Vice President Kamala Harris for being “an extraordinary partner” in his administration, he waited for a separate announcement to endorse her. There is a good reason for that apparent hesitation. Harris, like virtually all other possible Democratic replacements for Biden, underperforms against Trump in hypothetical polling even worse than Biden does, and that is before media scrutiny, Trump attack ads, and any serious exploration of her liabilities have even begun. Trump has indicated that he prefers Harris over Biden as an opponent. Her campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2020 was a disaster that she ended before any of that year’s state primaries. She only ended up as Biden’s running mate as part of a backroom deal to shore up the black vote in the decisive South Carolina primary, before which Biden was himself a relatively weak candidate. Her primary responsibility as vice president has been to manage the southern border, which remains a complete and utter catastrophe allowing millions of migrants to pass illegally into the United States.
Under Democrat-authored campaign finance rules, however, she is the only candidate who can benefit from the large campaign contributions Biden has amassed. It remains to be seen whether Biden can easily transfer his primary delegates to Harris or whether there will be a challenge to her elevation to the top of the ticket at the Democratic convention next month. Either way, with just over three months until election day, the odds significantly disfavor any new Democratic candidate, who must immediately build a campaign infrastructure, increase name recognition, establish a presidential-level political persona, and develop a policy program for voters to evaluate. Trump has been doing all of those things for nearly two years, and Biden, like any other president, had been doing so for his entire term in office.
Another vital point is the logical question of whether Biden should continue as president. His withdrawal letter stated he would remain and fulfill his presidential duties for the remainder of his term. But if, as many Republicans speedily pointed out, he is unable to conduct an election campaign, is he truly competent to remain commander-in-chief, especially as expanding wars loom abroad and America’s domestic polity is increasingly in crisis? The answer is a clear no, and Democrats will be hard pressed to explain this logical discrepancy as November looms.
More importantly, deliberately maintaining in office for the next six months a weak president who just signaled to the world that he cannot campaign for his own reelection could invite all manner of challenge and catastrophe in global and domestic affairs. Biden’s time is up, but when he goes, how he goes, and who will replace him in January is more up in the air than ever.
Biden Quits White House Bid, Undermining Legitimacy of His Presidency
U.S. President Joe Biden
SAMUEL CORUM / AFP
President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he is withdrawing from the presidential race and will not seek re-election in 2024. This follows his disastrous performance in the debate on June 27, multiple other literal and figurative stumbles since then, and—to top it off—a third bout of Covid-19.
Biden’s withdrawal represents a betrayal of democratic principles that the American Left insistently claims to defend. He won the primaries and secured the delegates necessary to win the Democratic Party’s nomination when its convention meets next month. Now, with no apparent plans for any competitive process that will be decided by Democratic voters, he appears ready to hand over the nomination.
No sitting U.S. president has withdrawn from a presidential campaign since Lyndon Johnson in 1968, in the midst of a disastrous war that he did much to create and for which he was widely blamed and widely despised. Johnson and Harry Truman, the next most recent incumbent U.S. president to decline to run for reelection, were both Democrats who lived to see their party lose in the same year’s general election.
Biden’s imminent withdrawal had been rumored since late last week, but nobody was really sure if he would drop out. Some Democrats believed he would and should remain in the race, offering excuses for his obvious physical and cognitive decline right up to the very end. Others more cynically reasoned that self-interested people around Biden would buttress his inclination to stay in. Behind the scenes, as many reports indicated, a rising chorus of Democratic officeholders, donors, and staffers—including White House personnel—maintained that the incumbent could not win his race against former, and increasingly likely, future president Donald J. Trump.
The most convincing argument was in the polls. Biden has been losing to Trump consistently for nearly a year, with Trump’s victory margins rising steadily—both in the national popular vote and in crucial electoral college “swing states”—as Biden made more gaffes and as his administration faced more and more accusations of relying on government prosecutorial power to attempt to disqualify Trump, through criminal trials that are widely believed to be bogus.
After the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump, the former president’s candidacy became rocket propelled by a heroic aura. At the Republican Party’s national convention he effectively consolidated the GOP as a populist conservative movement under his undisputed personal leadership. Both events appear to have increased Trump’s popularity, with the vital swing state of Michigan registering a decisive seven-point polling lead in his favor just hours before Biden’s withdrawal.
In a publicly released letter on Sunday afternoon, Biden, 81, announced that he believes “it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.” He offered no specific explanation, but it is not difficult to say what almost all Americans—including an overwhelming majority of Democrats—were thinking. Biden was a terrible candidate, building on a dismal legacy as a highly unpopular president, and the polls strongly suggested a negative outcome for him in the November elections. His decision to withdraw was not a gracious, statesmanlike act of civic courage, as leftists have already begun to argue, but a cold realization of undeniable facts.
The most obvious question raised by Biden’s announcement was who the new Democratic nominee will be. While Biden thanked Vice President Kamala Harris for being “an extraordinary partner” in his administration, he waited for a separate announcement to endorse her. There is a good reason for that apparent hesitation. Harris, like virtually all other possible Democratic replacements for Biden, underperforms against Trump in hypothetical polling even worse than Biden does, and that is before media scrutiny, Trump attack ads, and any serious exploration of her liabilities have even begun. Trump has indicated that he prefers Harris over Biden as an opponent. Her campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2020 was a disaster that she ended before any of that year’s state primaries. She only ended up as Biden’s running mate as part of a backroom deal to shore up the black vote in the decisive South Carolina primary, before which Biden was himself a relatively weak candidate. Her primary responsibility as vice president has been to manage the southern border, which remains a complete and utter catastrophe allowing millions of migrants to pass illegally into the United States.
Under Democrat-authored campaign finance rules, however, she is the only candidate who can benefit from the large campaign contributions Biden has amassed. It remains to be seen whether Biden can easily transfer his primary delegates to Harris or whether there will be a challenge to her elevation to the top of the ticket at the Democratic convention next month. Either way, with just over three months until election day, the odds significantly disfavor any new Democratic candidate, who must immediately build a campaign infrastructure, increase name recognition, establish a presidential-level political persona, and develop a policy program for voters to evaluate. Trump has been doing all of those things for nearly two years, and Biden, like any other president, had been doing so for his entire term in office.
Another vital point is the logical question of whether Biden should continue as president. His withdrawal letter stated he would remain and fulfill his presidential duties for the remainder of his term. But if, as many Republicans speedily pointed out, he is unable to conduct an election campaign, is he truly competent to remain commander-in-chief, especially as expanding wars loom abroad and America’s domestic polity is increasingly in crisis? The answer is a clear no, and Democrats will be hard pressed to explain this logical discrepancy as November looms.
More importantly, deliberately maintaining in office for the next six months a weak president who just signaled to the world that he cannot campaign for his own reelection could invite all manner of challenge and catastrophe in global and domestic affairs. Biden’s time is up, but when he goes, how he goes, and who will replace him in January is more up in the air than ever.
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