Debate Week Friday

Wipeout

It was worse than disastrous. It was sad, it was humiliating. Biden looked like a hospice patient who got lost on his way to the bathroom. That was probably the biggest thing: He looked and sounded awful. In past debates, Biden maintained eye contact with the camera when Trump spoke; he seemed focused and strong. This time, he rarely made eye contact; he looked down, mouth slack. He gave the impression of a very old man. His voice was weak, his answers garbled and incomprehensible—certainly to anyone who doesn’t spend their life following politics. If he had effective moments, and there might have been a few, they were lost in the overall horror

Trump was Trump. A lying, petulant charlatan. But that won’t make much difference. He didn’t even need to point out how frail Biden seemed—although at one point, he said, “I don’t understand what he just said.” Neither did I, neither did anyone. Trump understood that he didn’t need to ridicule the geezer—indeed, it would have seemed cruel, even for Trump. He just stuck to calling Biden a terrible President; Biden was on the ropes from the first minute, unable to defend himself. Someone should have stopped the fight.

The CNN anchors were lapidary and dreadful. They let Trump get away with murder, time after time. He was asked how he would remove the 20 million illegal immigrants he wants to deport. He was asked if he’d deport illegals who had legal spouses, who had been living here for 10, 20 years. He was asked about childcare, about any number of issues—and didn’t answer a single one, but chose instead to hammer Biden’s record repeatedly, making the same points over and over again. Occasionally, the moderators would press, weakly, and ask him…”And what about those 20 million?” But he stonewalled them—and neither Tapper nor Bash were willing to toss the script and say, “We’re going to stick to this question until you answer it: Would you actually deport 20 million people, as you’ve promised?” But then, I suspect the moderators were shell-shocked as well, rendered speechless by Biden’s performance. And if Biden were there, he would have done the job himself: “Answer the question, for chrissakes, Donald!” But he wasn’t really there.

Joe Biden has had an honorable career and, I believe, he’s been a very good President. It’s tragic to see it end this way. But end it must. He can not win this election. On the evidence of last night, he would be unable to function as President for the next four years. He needs to stand down, as soon as possible. He needs to release his convention delegates and allow the Democrats to pick a successor—and it should be a real competition, involving debates. If the Democrats choose to defend the disaster that everyone saw last night, they will only make themselves seem foolish and unworthy of governing.

The first step should be Biden’s…but if he doesn’t choose to stand down, there needs to be an intervention. Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, Steny Hoyer, Chuck Schumer have to go to the White House and tell him that he must do this. I suspect that candidates will emerge very quickly—Kamala Harris, obviously; Gavin Newsom, probably; Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, any other plausible Democratic governor. I suppose some lefties like Elizabeth Warren—who disgraced herself by endorsing Jamaal Bowman—will give it a shot. (Warren certainly would shred Trump in a debate.) It will be chaotic for a time. Then, if someone catches fire, it may become exciting. There will be a chance for someone fresh, new and clean—someone who can actually stand up to Donald Trump.

A few days ago, I asked a good friend, a Democrat

l, what happens if Biden has a terrible debate. “Then we circle the wagons,” they said. “He’s the nominee.”

If that’s actually true, after last night, they will be circling the wagons around a political corpse.