Biden Finally Shows True Leadership in Passing the Torch

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., the 46th president of the United States, stepped out of the 2024 election so the Democratic Party could try to ensure in the four short months between now and November that Donald Trump doesn’t become the 47th.

And in a shambolic, dangerous political era in which Trump, shrouded in a haze of faux patriotism and strength, has vaulted anarchy, venom and gibberish onto the global stage, Biden’s act of selflessness and grit is welcome — and, in its own way, epic.

It also opens the door to the creation of a Democratic ticket that could inject new life and energy into a campaign that has lost momentum and enthusiasm to Republicans in the weeks since Biden’s disastrous debate performance and an assassination attempt on Trump upended expectations about the race. The odds, polls, political and financial machinations and an endorsement from the president favor Vice President Kamala Harris to assume Biden’s mantle.

If it is Harris, her savvy and strategic selection of a running mate will be crucial. She could tilt toward any number of viable and capable Democrats. Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania comes to mind. So do Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. If Harris fancies something dramatic and seismic, amid complaints about national partisan divides, she could do the unexpected and select former Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming as her running mate. Imagine that: A former prosecutor and the principled Republican leader of Congress’ Jan. 6 hearings taking on Trump, a twice-impeached convicted felon and sexual predator who is untethered by a sense of public duty or rationality.

This should have happened in a more orderly fashion, and Biden could have set the wheels in motion a year ago. As it turned out, it took his humiliating debate belly flop in June to reveal him publicly as too diminished to continue campaigning. It also took weeks of arm-twisting by leading members of the Democratic Party, and courageous public statements from a handful of others, to persuade Biden to finally step aside.

But he did step aside. In the grander scheme of things, three weeks may not seem like such a long time. There’s another valuable lesson here. The Democratic Party’s leaders have shown they are more willing to do the right thing — seeking the ouster of a sitting president as their standard-bearer — than the Republican Party’s leadership, which has acquiesced and caved to Trump at every turn over the last nine years, no matter how unlawful or heinous his transgressions.

Party leaders usually reflect their voters, however. Survivors in both parties spend a lot of time reading the needs and sentiments of their constituents. Only so much steel and righteousness can be expected of them if their voters want something else. Still, Democrats such as Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Chuck Schumer emerge from this historic moment as infinitely more responsible and mature than Republican weather vanes and cowards such as Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

During the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week, GOP stars and onetime Trump critics such as former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida took center stage at the Fiserv Forum to enthusiastically kiss Trump’s ring. And Trump, looking down from his box seat like a Roman emperor at the Colosseum, soaked up those and other demonstrations of amnesia and fealty, knowing they would compel other Republicans to bend the knee.

Democratic voters want something else, and enough pressure was brought to bear on the White House that Biden could no longer ignore it. Voters had repeatedly shown their willingness to support a president who has delivered a booming economy, national security and a respect for civil society despite a broader lack of enthusiasm for him. They weren’t willing to let him hang on simply because he wanted to hang on — particularly when it was overwhelmingly evident that he couldn’t beat Trump and that his candidacy might torpedo countless other Democrats in down-ballot races.

Republican operatives who had suddenly grown indignant about the prospect of Biden leaving the race have suggested that they would align with Democrats and sue to stop it from happening. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts told me and a gathering of other journalists at a Bloomberg News event in Milwaukee last week that he was offering his perspective on relevant legalities to anyone interested. While it’s unlikely that any legal challenge will gain traction, it’s a measurement of how weakened Biden had become that even Trump supporters wanted him to stay on the ballot.

Biden’s White House advisers have repeatedly noted that the president couldn’t stand down because it would subvert the intentions of voters who cast their ballots for him during the Democratic primaries earlier this year. But those voters hadn’t seen the June debate, and it certainly stunned enough of them to make late winter and spring ballots inexact barometers of their faith in Biden.

Biden, 81, has been in the political arena for 52 years. When he writes, as he did in his letter announcing he was dropping out of the race, that he has a “heartfelt appreciation” for the American people for the “faith and trust” they have placed in him for decades, he means it.

Biden is flawed, just like each and every one of us. He’s also been an honorable public servant who has looked after the country’s interests for a very long time. He’s now capped off his estimable career by passing the torch to others who can offer voters meaningful alternatives to Trump, an unhinged authoritarian and geriatric carny act who shouldn’t be trusted with the powers and responsibilities of the presidency.

Bravo.