THE DEMOCRATS' FUTURE & BIDEN'S FATE

I know that Joe Biden's decision to step down was the right one for the Democrats and for the U.S. because his unpopularity was like a chronic disease—none of the good he did was sufficient to improve it. At the same time, I can't help but feel that the Democrats were ruthless in dispatching him.

And of course, since this is the United States, and politics markets candidates the way Proctor and Gamble sells mouthwash, Biden's physical departure from the ticket was not enough—the Democrats are trying to revise and expropriate his presidential legacy.

Convention speaker after speaker are trying to make it seem as if Kamala Harris was the one who effected the passage of Infrastructure and Inflation Reduction Act and Chips act and all of the other legislative achievements that occurred in the first two years of this administration, whereas Joe Biden was their true author.

More than a decade ago, Barak Obama pulled the same stunt. He couldn't even get the ACA passed through a Democrat-controlled Congress without the heavy lifting of Biden and Pelosi; yet many Democrats idolize Obama, simply because he has a good voice and can deliver a speech.

Unfortunately, oratory is not the most important skill to succeed as president. Ironically, even in his "stuttering, doddering senescence," Biden has been twice the president Obama was; despite the fact that Obama used to belittle Biden and betrayed him several times. Obama refused to support Biden's effort to run in 2016, in 2020, he withheld his endorsement of Biden until his former VP had the nomination in hand, and now in 2024, Obama was one of those Party elders who forcefully pried Biden off the ticket.

Yet, when the cheering stops and no one remembers the particular spectacles that took place during these election cycles, Biden will go down as America's Cincinnatus, an old leader who came out of retirement to lead his nation out of crisis. He will be that rara avis—a president who was also a hero.