Desperate times for Democrats

In the aftermath of last month’s presidential debate, Democrats across the country struggled to evaluate the damage—even as the Biden-Harris campaign lurched unblinkingly onward. Was it an overreaction? Were the long pauses, the faltering trains of thought mere symptoms of “a bad night,” like the president was asking his supporters to believe? Democrats leaving closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill gave vague answers to those questions or, better yet, tried to avoid them altogether.

But to many Democrats like Nick Vallier, a voter in the swing state of Michigan, the fatal blow was obvious.

“Four minutes into the debate I was too embarrassed for him to continue [watching],” Vallier told WORLD. “I felt before that he was not physically able to handle it any longer. The debate solidified it. The American people see he isn’t fit to do the job anymore, and if we have any chance of defeating Trump, it’s not with Biden.”

On Sunday afternoon, the damage finally caught up with President Joe Biden. In a press release, the 81-year-old incumbent announced he would not pursue a second term.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term” Biden wrote.

Biden said he would address the nation later in the week with more details about his decision.

With just 106 days until the country elects a new president, Democrats must hope Biden’s replacement can emerge from his shadow and unite the party under one banner. Shannon O’Brien, professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, told WORLD the moment has few parallels in American history.

“I don’t know if there is a comparison—at least in modern times,” O’Brien said. “1912 is really your closest comparative, and that’s when [President] Teddy Roosevelt marched out of the Republican National Convention and created his own political party within a month.”

Roosevelt, O’Brien explained, was challenging incumbent president William Howard Taft at the time. But upon realizing he lacked the votes needed to seize the Republican nomination, Roosevelt decided to walk away from a contest he couldn’t win outright, taking the party’s unity with him just months ahead of an election.

While Biden’s decision to step aside likely won’t result in the creation of a third party, the change at the 11th hour leaves Democrats trying to build momentum from scratch. O’Brien explained that, unlike Republicans who have individual state party positions, the Democratic party only has one overarching national platform.

“Democrats are a unitary party. So you see more tension at times in the Democratic party because a lot of them chafe under essentially forced modernization. The party platform is always determined at the convention,” O’Brien said, referencing the upcoming Democratic National Convention (DNC). “The party platform they’re operating under right now, Joe Biden had a big hand in. They’re going to have to adapt whatever Biden did.”

The Democratic National Convention runs from August 19-22. Biden’s statement on Sunday afternoon did not specify the manner in which he hopes the party will select a new candidate.

The moment provides a rare opportunity for a hard reset. With a new candidate, the party could shift tones on sensitive issues like the war in Gaza, the southern border, and more. But would they take that chance? And would Democrats rally under such a change? O’Brien thinks the party should have seen these questions coming.

“Joe Biden was elected to the Senate before I was born. And I’m in my 50’s. The only reason we’re talking about replacing Joe Biden is because of his deficits, which he allowed to be put on display,” O’Brien said.

Age proved a recurring thorn for Biden even as he vied for the party’s nomination against 28 other Democratic candidates in 2020.

As early as August 2019, voters voiced a desire for younger leadership. At the time, The Wall Street Journal in partnership with NBC News found that 62 percent of respondents had reservations about voting for someone age 75 or older. Just a little over one year into Biden’s presidency, The New York Times published findings in partnership with Siena College showing that only 26 percent of Democrats wanted him to run again, with age playing a decisive role in that consideration.

Republicans have capitalized on Biden’s many gaffes over the years, frequently highlighting Biden’s age as a liability. It’s also been a political weapon for Trump who, since 2019, has called the president “Sleepy Joe.” But to some of Biden’s longest supporters, his decline has come as a slow-moving surprise.

Craig Ellis, a Democratic voter from California, has followed Biden’s career for most of his life. Ellis remembers Biden’s first presidential run back in the ’80s during his high school years. Later, in 2008, Eillis struggled to choose between Barack Obama or Biden in the presidential primaries.

In recent months, Ellis has seen Biden’s shuffle and heard his wispy voice. But coming into the June 27 debate, he still thought of Biden as the guy that delivered the State of the Union in March—old but forceful, feisty, even. Within minutes, the debate changed everything. Ellis felt worried, then demoralized, then angry.

“I watched the debate fully hoping to see the strong Biden from the State of the Union,” Ellis remembered thinking. “I was feeling really upset with the Democrats—I was mostly upset at people around him that they let it get this bad.”

Before the debate ended, Ellis knew Biden had to go.

To Ellis, Biden’s decision to step aside marks an end to an era. For decades, he found an amicable politician in Biden—someone who, despite the gaffes, came across as a down-to-earth, relatable guy. Seeing him in this position pained him, Ellis said.

I asked him how he would remember the president.

“He’s done a lot of great things. He’s been really good at compromise which we need so much in our country. We need both sides to work together and he was able to do that. I don’t know if anyone else coming up can do that,” Ellis said.