TIn Shakespeare’s words, “Nothing in life was more fitting for him than to throw it away.” Joe Biden could have hung on. He could have fought through pain and pride, failed and lost the Presidency to a complacent Donald Trump. He could have let his stubborn Irish heart rule his gray-haired Yankee head. But finally, at last, old and sick, Biden did the brave, right and honorable thing.
It is just as dangerous to compare a departing US leader to the Thane of Cawdor, whose sudden death, as students of Macbeth and succession struggles well know, paved the way for an even greater tragedy. The big question now is whether Biden’s chosen successor, Kamala Harris, can rise from the ashes of a burnt-out presidency. Never before in modern times has the Oval Office, the world’s largest and most powerful office, been so completely vacant in the frantic few weeks remaining.
The hard deadline is August 19th, when the Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago. Thursday, August 22nd is when the winning candidate will deliver his acceptance speech. After that, there will be no turning back, no time for second thoughts. From that day until Election Day on November 5th, it will be all-out war, a political deathmatch against the extremist Republican candidate, in what will probably be the most crucial election since John F. Kennedy’s narrow defeat of Richard Nixon in 1960.
Will Harris win the party’s approval or face stiff competition within it? She has a big advantage. As vice president since 2021, Harris can count on national name recognition. Unlike Trump’s running mate, the far-right white supremacist J.D. Vance, who is understandably unknown, she is of Black and Asian American descent, which could be a plus for minority voters. She is the first woman to hold the vice presidency, and at 59 years old, she is certainly not Joe Biden.
Before entering the White House, Harris was a highly regarded prosecutor and senator from California. During her time in office, she gained a reputation among interested parties for championing women’s rights, education, and climate change, and for fighting Republican voter suppression efforts. She has been underestimated and mocked by her opponents, as vice presidents usually are. But she has endured tough challenges and continues to forge ahead. And she may inherit the Biden-Harris campaign’s $100 million fund.
For independents and undecided voters in the United States, Harris is also no Donald Trump. Instead of a grumpy pair of old grumps fighting bloodily like cranky Monty Python knights, a fresh alternative in terms of personality, energy, policies, tone, credibility and moral integrity may soon be on offer. It is a choice that could bring about a generational leap. A new, younger dawn may dawn in America come January.
But let’s not get too excited. No one knows at this point whether one or several of the many other Democratic officials mentioned as possible successors to Biden will run. They include governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and Gavin Newsom of California. Plus former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey. Some are talking about a rematch between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, but hopefully that’s just an attempt to scare people. But think about it: what are the chances now of a first-in-history rematch? Women’s only ticket?
It remains to be seen how Biden’s successor will be chosen. The fact that the president has endorsed Harris will carry weight with the party’s moderates. So-called progressive leftists like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may think differently. Biden had been teetering on the edge of being cast aside, but by stepping aside, he instantly added political capital to the one he had accumulated during a relatively successful domestic presidency. His choice will be hard to deny. And Harris’ potential rivals will be loath to be portrayed as an agent of division.
Will Biden be able to simply hand the nomination to Harris with the sheer number of enthusiastic convention delegates he won during the primaries? No. Now that Biden is not running, delegates are free to vote for whomever they want. If the process spins out of control and turns into a month-long popular vote in which rival candidates make their case, the choice of nominee could come down to a tense last-minute vote or a series of elimination votes at the Chicago convention.
What a glorious, riveting, prime-time spectacle it will be. What an awe-inspiring exercise in open, real-time democracy it will be, even if Harris is ultimately elected by acclamation. And what a utter disappointment for Trump and his Republican liars, thieves, cable-TV puppets and poll-busters. The entire country, indeed the entire democratic world, will be riveted by this drama and, in a very real sense, witness its creation.
From the broken remains of the Biden administration, a new leader may emerge, a new defender of American values, an antidote and a cure for Trump and Trumpism. This old man (78 years old) is already coughing blood out of his golf cart. Despite the insults, he knows that a new candidate will be better equipped to hold him accountable, expose his crimes, criticize his lies, and wear him down. With any luck, he will lose his mind completely.
What happened Sunday evening was a personal political tragedy. A lesson in the impermanence of power. How, in a healthy democracy, a seemingly invincible leader can fall. But it was also a moment of great hope, renewal, and revival. The return of Trump and his sickeningly sentimental, divisive, self-centered authoritarianism, which had begun to seem hopelessly inevitable, suddenly isn’t inevitable at all. In the midst of the anxiety and grief, there is a palpable sense of relief. A new rush of adrenaline. Now the real battle begins.
Thank you, Joe, for finally understanding. You beat the pandemic, led the recovery, expanded health care, created jobs, and charted a course for the climate crisis. You were wrong about Gaza and Afghanistan and too cautious about Ukraine. But you were a decent man and, for the most part, a good president for America and the world. For all this and more, you will be remembered with gratitude. But your departure was the best thing you ever did.
