The New Neo

I’m in awe of the mental gymnastics it takes to write an opinion piece like this one by David Ignatius:

What I admire most about President Biden is that in a polarized nation, he has governed from the center out, as he promised in his victory speech. With an unexpectedly steady hand, he passed some of the most important domestic legislation in recent decades. In foreign policy, he managed the delicate balance of helping Ukraine fight Russia without getting America itself into a war. In sum, he has been a successful and effective president.

Pravda could not have done better. But Ignatius is not through – oh no, he’s just getting warmed up:

But I don’t think Biden and Vice President Harris should run for reelection. It’s painful to say that, given my admiration for much of what they have accomplished. But if he and Harris campaign together in 2024, I think Biden risks undoing his greatest achievement — which was stopping Trump.

Say what? Stopping Trump is his greatest achievement (I’d say it’s his only achievement, if you consider it to be an achievement, which I don’t). But why not run again, if Biden has indeed accomplished that great achievement and all the other ones that Ignatius claims have made Biden “a successful and effective president”? What more could a person want from a candidate, really?

This is why not, according to Ignatius: Biden is too old. And Harris is too unpopular – or, as Ignatius puts it: “Harris has many laudable qualities, but the simple fact is that she has failed to gain traction in the country or even within her own party.”

“Failed to gain traction.” Now, that’s a turn of phrase. But tellingly, Ignatius says that, although “time is running out” on finding an alternative to Biden, there’s another problem:

Right now, there’s no clear alternative to Biden — no screamingly obvious replacement waiting in the wings. That might be the decider for Biden, that there’s seemingly nobody else. But maybe he will trust in democracy to discover new leadership, “in the arena.”

Ignatius doesn’t speculate on why, in this enormous country full of Democrats in elected office, there are no clear alternatives to this old geezer and his incredibly unpopular veep. But I’ll take a guess: the Democrats have gone so far to the left that the vast majority – maybe even all – of their younger politicians are way too extreme for the general electorate. Biden was old enough and fake-avuncular enough to have been able to fool a lot of people into thinking he was a genial middle-of-the-roader, but the vast majority of younger Democrats would be unable to perform such a feat. And Kamala seems to be unable to perform even the simplest political moves without flubbing them.

Of course, it may not matter. If the Democrats “fortify” the election enough, by hook or by crook, any Democrat could win, even Kamala. But why should the Democrats make the task of winning more difficult for themselves by nominating Biden and Harris?

I am convinced, however, that Biden will not be listening to the likes of David Ignatius and leaving the field voluntarily. Of course, I very much doubt that Ignatius is speaking for himself and without coordination with other Democrat movers and shakers saying more or less the same thing. They would like Biden out; but, as I’ve written many many times, they face several obstacles in accomplishing that goal. One of them is Biden’s overweening ambition and stubbornness. The other – and probably the larger one – is the lack of a decent replacement.