Biden’ our time in Halifax

Our travel saga continues as we are biden’ our time here. If you don’t know what I am talking about, go here, here, and here. If there is any positive aspect from our predicament it is that I have more time to think about politics especially the political quagmire evolving in the United States, most recently following Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance.

The President faces a horrible decision–remain a candidate for president at and beyond the forthcoming Democratic convention, or withdraw, knowing how difficult it will be for democrats to find a viable replacement who has even a faint hope of defeating Donald Trump.

Known to be stubborn, with an ego necessary for anyone hoping to be any kind of national public office, while his personal confidence may remain strong, the American people, including many from within his own party, are increasingly unconvinced. Writing in the New York Times, Katie Rogers opines:

“Over the course of his long career, President Biden has overcome personal tragedy and political odds, and he has used his resilience to power his ambition. But now that he is in the fight of his political life, his irrepressible pursuit of the comeback risks looking like blind defiance in the face of a rising tide.”

After last week’s debate, followed by an interview with ABC, President Biden now admits “it was a bad night” with seemingly little awareness of how compromised his candidacy has become. He is determined to proceed without consideration of the risks associated with continuing. Others disagree:

[Also NYT] “Growing swaths of Democrats now believe that by remaining on the ticket, the president is jeopardizing their ability to maintain the White House and threatening other candidates up and down the ballot. The moment is setting up an extraordinary clash between a defiant president of the United States who insists he is not abandoning his re-election campaign and members of his party who are beginning to suggest that he should.”

Biden is indeed between “a rock and a hard place.” Age and health notwithstanding, he has lost the ability to inspire confidence and hope for voters in swing states and beyond. Politics is policy; politics is theater. He is literally biding his time, hoping that other forces will shore up what he can no longer deliver.

In all of life’s challenges and situations, it is good to leave one’s position with as much favour and respect as possible. And yes, “it’s not all about you.” (This is Donald Trump’s problem.) If not everything, timing is crucial, along with an ability to read the signs of the times.

Just ask Rishi Sunak in the UK, and Emmanuel Macron in Frace, now facing a hung parliament though with a diminished right and slightly stronger left. Both have made opportunistic electoral choices that history will likely not remember appreciatively. Biden risks a similar outcome.

If there is a distinctive decision-making factor for the current president, it is nobility. Remember Paul to the Philippians: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (4:8). The standard of noble behaviour is both ancient and relevant today.

What would be the most noble decision, a decision putting the needs of the country and the party first above the inevitable need for self-satisfaction and an assurance of a proud legacy?

During our loopy time in Nova Scotia I have enjoyed reading Becoming Madam Secretary, a fictionalized history of Frances Perkins, the longest serving Secretary of Labour ever (twelve years) during the FDR years. Her influence on Rosevelt’s New Deal, her activism around workers’ rights–especially women and child workers–is legendary. Her greatest achievement was the development and implementation of the Social Security Act, a project that earned her the title of “lightening rod.” She is arguably the most influential woman politician in US history. And yes, her efforts were as noble, as self-effacing, as resilient as anyone can imagine. Her brute determination was tempered by a keen ability to read the signs of the times, an ability that Joe Biden, his family and inner circle have lost.

It is all but certain that convicted felon, Donald J Trump will once again assume the presidency. He will then settle scores with opponents, with no legal restraints or consequences. He will likely move to abolish limits to presidential terms of office. He will continue to reduce liberal voices in the Supreme Court. He will open the door for a determined conservative administration to dismantle any shred of democracy left in the America of FDR and JFK.

Of course, hindsight would have been great; twelve months ago something different might have been imagined. Someone sometime made the decision that Joe Biden had the best chance of beating Donald Trump because he did it once; once, however, is not necessarily twice. If hindsight is 20/20 it seems that foresight is blind.

ONE ADDITIONAL REFERENCE: I highly recommend you read Andrew Nikiforuk’s analysis in THE TYEE.