I watched the Biden-Trump debate alone in a Lisbon hotel room, and it brought tears to my eyes. I cannot recall a more heartbreaking moment in American presidential campaign politics in my lifetime, precisely because of what it revealed: Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, does not have to run for reelection. And Donald Trump, a mean-spirited man and a mean-spirited president, has learned and forgotten nothing. He is the same pack of lies he has always been, obsessed with his grievances, nothing close to what is needed for America to lead in the 21st century.
The Biden family and his political team must meet quickly and have the toughest of conversations with the president; a conversation of love, clarity and determination. To give the United States the best possible chance of deterring Trump’s threat in November, the president needs to step forward and declare that he will not run for re-election and that he is resigning all of his delegates to the Convention. National Democrat.
The Republican Party, if its leaders had an ounce of integrity, would demand the same thing, but they won’t, because they don’t. That is why it is so important for Democrats to put the country’s interests first and announce that a public process will begin for the various Democratic candidates to compete for the nomination: town halls, debates, meetings with donors, whatever. Yes, it could be chaotic and disorderly when the Democratic convention begins on August 19 in Chicago, but I think the threat from Trump is serious enough for delegates to quickly rally around a consensus candidate.
If Vice President Kamala Harris wants to run, let her. 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 that neither man on that stage in Atlanta did Thursday night: a compelling description of where the world is right now and a compelling vision of what America can and must do to continue leading it morally, economically and diplomatically.
Because we are not at just any historical moment. We are at the beginning of the greatest technological disruptions and the greatest climate disruption in human history. We are at the dawn of an artificial intelligence revolution that is going to change EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE: how we work, how we learn, how we teach, how we trade, how we invent, how we collaborate, how we fight wars, how we commit crimes, and how we combat crime. Maybe I missed it, but I did not hear the term “artificial intelligence” mentioned by either of them in the debate.
If ever there was a time when the world needed America at its best, led by its best men, it is now, because great dangers and opportunities lie ahead. A younger Joe Biden could have been that leader, but his time has passed. And that was painfully and inescapably obvious on Thursday.
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Biden has been a friend of mine since we traveled together to Afghanistan and Pakistan after 9/11, when he chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, so I say all of the above with great sadness.
But if he ends his presidency now, recognizing that due to age he is not fit for a second term, his first and only presidency will be remembered as one of the best in our history. He saved us from back-to-back Trump terms, and for that alone deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but he also signed important legislation crucial to addressing the climate and technological revolutions upon us.
Until now, I had been willing to give Biden the benefit of the doubt, because in the times I had interacted with him face to face, he seemed up to the job. Clearly, he is no longer. His family and his team had to know that. They have been holed up in Camp David for days, preparing for this momentous debate. If that is the best they have been able to get from him, Biden should retain his dignity and walk off the stage at the end of this term.
If he does, ordinary Americans will cheer Joe Biden for doing what Donald Trump would never do: putting country before himself.
If he insists on running and loses to Trump, Biden and his family — and his staff and party members who allowed him to do so — will have a hard time showing their face to the public.
They deserve better. America needs better. The world needs something better.
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