By Todd Lassa
No matter how Vice President Kamala Harris tried to spin President Biden’s performance in his debate with Donald J. Trump Thursday evening, the incumbent’s performance was a disaster, serving to confirm multiple polls that say voters think he is too old to run for re-election. Ex-President Trump, 77, is too old, too, say many of these polls, but Biden, 81, was unable to effectively strike back at Trump’s multiple lies beyond repeating familiar arguments in a thin, raspy voice.
Credit CNN’s debate rules, at least, for preventing the sort of mayhem that defined the first such clash between the two in late September 2020.
CNN anchor John King told a post-debate panel he has never had his phone light up as much before, from Democratic operatives reacting early in the debate – when Biden lost his train of thought several times. The president appeared to perk up later in the debate when Trump made incendiary comments about Biden’s family and on his record with the Veterans Administration and foreign policy before the whole thing devolved into an argument over who is the better golfer.
Pundits and news outlets had made much prior to Thursday about how the debate was by far the earliest between presidential candidates in modern times. Intentional or not, this early bird special debate gives both the Democratic and Republican parties the opportunity to “broker” their upcoming conventions if their respective candidate voluntarily steps down.
You can bet that won’t happen at the Republican National Convention in “horrible” Milwaukee next month. But Biden has to Chicago in August to step down from his campaign if he’s serious about stopping what much of his party considers “dictator for a day” Trump’s anti-democratic tendencies.
Democratic Party leadership knows that Biden’s vice president would not be the answer. Never mind that no MAGA Republican would ever vote for her under any circumstances; progressive Democrats, already angry over Biden’s policy toward Israel in Gaza would oppose her presidential candidacy for her law-and-order crackdowns as California attorney general and as San Francisco district attorney before that.
Most obvious step-in is 2028 presidential candidate and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. He stood behind Biden after the debate, saying “I have no trepidation” about his continuing to run, NPR reports.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), a designated Biden surrogate, defended the president’s performance on Morning Edition, arguing that Trump “spent the entire debate lying and lying and lying.”
True that Trump repeated such Fox News talking points as that Capitol police invited in the January 6th rioters he will pardon if he wins November 5. And Dana Bash had to ask three times whether Trump would accept the election result “no matter what” before he gave the usual answer about assuring clean ballot counting.
As of Friday, Democratic Party leadership and certainly anti-MAGA Republicans like Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and former Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger realize it is very unlikely President Biden will be re-elected November 5.
Other voices … Friday’s headlines:
“Biden’s Struggles in Debate Alarm Democrats” – The New York Times.
“The debate Democrats feared” – Semafor.
“Democrats Discuss Replacing Biden on Presidential Ticket” – The Wall Street Journal.
“Democrats really have no way to spin this. We break down Biden’s disastrous debate” – Politico.
“DEFCON 1 moment: Biden’s debate performance sends Democrats into panic”, and “Ninety miserable minutes of Biden v. Trump” – The Guardian.
“Joe Biden’s horrific debate performance cast his entire candidacy into doubt” and “The president had one job to do and he utterly failed at it” – The Economist.