To his great credit, Joe Biden did the right thing. And no one should try to diminish just how right, or how difficult, it was.
If it seemed inevitable that Biden, under intense pressure from his own party, had to eventually step away, that seemed to make Biden’s decision even more painful.
You have only to be a modest student of history to understand how rare it is for a person of power to voluntarily surrender it. And if, until the end, Biden raged against the dying of his political light, we shouldn’t have expected anything different.
You have only to be a modest observer of Joe Biden’s long career to know how these last post-debate weeks, in which his mental fitness was under question, have fed into his long-held belief that he has been underestimated by his fellow Democrats.
What matters, though, is that Biden made the right move, the necessary move, the essential move.
The only move.
With three weeks to go before the Democratic National Convention begins, with Democratic donors threatening to pull away, with polls in swing states suggesting the race was slipping away, with a growing number of members of Congress calling for Biden to step away, that was the only chance left if Democrats hoped to put together a credible campaign against Donald Trump.
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The truth, though, for all those who wanted Biden to step aside — and the chorus had grown deafening — is that the road ahead promises to be unimaginably difficult.
The immediate next step, it seems to me, is to find a way — if that’s even possible — to push back against the momentum that would turn a Kamala Harris nomination into a coronation.
It seems Barack Obama might be leaning that way, too, which may matter slightly more.
We’re seeing an attempted coronation in action. We’re seeing Biden — who has previously held barely private doubts about Harris’ chances — being joined by the Clintons, Bill and Hill, and a growing list of influential Democrats and, maybe more important, many potential Democratic rivals.
There is the understandable urge to coalesce around a single candidate and get the race against Trump underway as quickly — and as harm free — as possible. And the fact that Biden took so long to make his decision adds to the urgency. But getting the best candidate has to be more important than getting the obvious candidate.
I’m not saying Harris would be a terrible choice. I’m not as down on her chances as some observers. When she first came onto the national scene, I considered her a smart, talented politician. Despite a disappointing presidential run and bad reviews for her shaky start as vice president, I think she’s still viable.
She was, after all, a successful prosecutor before she became a senator. And prosecuting the case against the oft-convicted Trump is the principle job of any Democratic nominee.
But does Harris, whose polling numbers are nearly as anemic as Biden’s, give Democrats the best chance to save American democracy from the anti-democratic demagogue who has won the Republican nomination for a mind-blowing third time in eight years?
As I might have mentioned before, the Republicans nominating Trump once or even twice — he was an incumbent the second time — was beyond reason.
But nominating him a third time is beyond contempt.
So now, finding the strongest candidate is the monumental job facing the delegates to the Democratic convention. The problem is that there is no sure way to guarantee that the strongest candidate wins the nomination. There is no sure way to even know who would be the strongest candidate.
The known unknowns are staggering. What is known is that there have been few moments in presidential history — from the disastrous debate to the horrific assassination attempt to Biden’s decision to drop out of the race — more eventful.
And now there is the race, if it is a race, to find a replacement. The people who do this for a living obviously look to the Democrats’ so-called Blue Wall, which crumbled in 2016 when Trump won the presidency, for a potential candidate to challenge Harris. The Electoral College math makes it difficult to see how Democrats can possibly win without winning each of the contested Blue Wall states — Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
But no one from the region has stepped forward yet. Most potential contenders have said they endorse Harris. OK, Joe Manchin has hinted he might run. Yeah, as if he were a serious option.
And yet, there still seems to be room — though quickly shrinking — for a three-week contest of sorts in the run-up to the convention. It seems clear that even if such a sprint offers the risk of great chaos, it would also ensure great attention and focus.
In making his statement praising Biden’s decision, Obama pointedly did not mention Harris. He did mention his faith that the party would find a way to “create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”
Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries also did not mention Harris.
As Democratic strategist and Obama adviser David Axelrod keeps saying on CNN, a contested mini-primary would not only be good for the party but also for Harris — whose nomination as a Black woman of South-Asian descent would be historic — if she were to become the nominee.
Meanwhile, she is gaining support from most corners of the Democratic coalition. Jared Polis and Michael Bennet lead a long list of Colorado Democrats endorsing Harris. The race may already be over.
Certainly, there isn’t much time to make a choice. And at this volatile point in our history, there couldn’t be a more important choice.
Biden made the right decision. It was right for his legacy and his party and, I’d venture to say, his country.
The question now is whether Democrats, given this incredible opportunity, can do as well.
Mike Littwin has been a columnist for too many years to count. He has covered Dr. J, four presidential inaugurations, six national conventions and countless brain-numbing speeches in the New Hampshire and Iowa snow. Sign up for Mike’s newsletter.
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