The Panic Room
Could the early debate disaster be a blessing in disguise for Democrats?
The nightmare scenario unspooled almost immediately, as the president feebly shuffled out to his podium, likely unaware of the reckoning that he was about to unleash.
You didn’t need 90 minutes to come to the assessment. The first 15 minutes said it all. Joe Biden looked worn, sounded hoarse and struggled to stitch together compelling sentences that formed the forceful argument necessary to halt Donald Trump’s momentum toward a second term.
God love him.
On the other side of the room, Trump reined in his worst instincts for the most part. More importantly, he displayed the energy, verve and strength people expect from their commander in chief.
“He Must Bow Out of the Race”
“Biden Cannot Go on Like This”
“A Total Disaster”
These were not Republicans or partisans taking their usual potshots. These calls are now coming from Democratic voices, including old members of Biden’s team who are now paid to articulate honesty on television. Symone Sanders. Kate Bedingfield.
Those still employed on the Biden train fell to “background” protective services.
Read my full write-up for McClatchy Newspapers HERE.
Much as it was billed, the earliest debate in presidential history is now undoubtedly the most consequential of the 2024 campaign. But not for the reason we thought.
A Republican operative offered a more sanguine assessment for the world of bed-wetting Democrats. The writing is now clearly on the wall, in red and all caps. Biden must be replaced, nudged out, gently of course, by Tom Donilon and Steve Ricchetti, Ted Kaufman and of course Jill, who wore her best face at a post-massacre rally.
There’s still time — the convention doesn’t formally nominate until late August — August 22! And there’s a stable of viable talent — nestled right inside the states that matter. Whitmer and Shapiro and Warnock and Klobuchar, oh my.
“Terrible night for the GOP in that sense,” the GOP operative observed. “They might have a new, good candidate. We’re stuck with Trump.”
A fantasy, you scoff. And many Democrats who are on the team are doing just that. Biden ain’t going anywhere if he hasn’t by now. Ride or die.
But big events still matter in politics. Presidential debates certainly do. So amid the panic, will anyone in power actually act? Stand up and make their case. For their party, for the country.
If not, their clarion call about the biggest threat to democracy may hold less weight than it ever did. Instead, they’re left staring at the foremost threat in the mirror.
> Debate Takeaways
