In the almost 250-year history of the US as an independent country, only ten of its incumbent presidents have failed to win a reelection bid. Viewed in these terms, presidential incumbency is the mother of all handicaps and should seal the victory for any competent candidate. Increasingly, competent appears to describe the exact opposite of US President Joe Biden’s performance as a candidate, regardless of what one thinks of the job he has done as the chief executive. The feeling after Thursday’s (June 27) US presidential debate, with only one left to go, is that US President Joe Biden will likely become the 11th losing incumbent. His showing in the first debate was so abysmal that it has reportedly stoked fears within his own party. The 81-year-old Biden stuttered and stumbled over his words and often seemed to lose his train of thought, dished out his patented serving of gaffes, looked low on energy and made an opponent who more capable candidates would dream of facing look like a winner. This is arguably the most damning indictment of President Biden’s performance. Next to him on the debate stage was former president Donald Trump, who was an atrocious president, is now a convicted felon, remains highly unpopular, and has next to no credibility among anyone who takes politics or policy seriously. And yet, it was not enough. Not only did President Biden look weaker and slower but he failed to capitalize on his opponents’ weaknesses or call out his unending stream of falsehoods and at times even teed up some of Trump’s attacks.
At one point, the debate even degenerated into who had the better golf swing, a digression started by Trump but, for some bizarre reason, carried on by Biden. One expects this sort of silliness from a former reality TV star convicted of dozens of criminal charges and facing dozens more, not a man who has spent much of his adult life in the corridors of power. With less than five months to go till the November presidential and congressional elections, reports are now emerging of panic among Democratic Party insiders. Unless something drastic happens to change the narrative, the drumbeat calling for the incumbent president to step aside and let someone else take the reins before November will only get louder.
That being said, concerns about President Biden’s age, mental acuity, stamina and gaffe-prone nature are not new. They were there when he became president but these weaknesses have only gotten worse over time. What does it say about the Democratic Party when they have not done anything about this problem until now? Why was a more capable successor to President Biden not groomed earlier? Why was he even allowed to agree to a contest that he looked so ill-prepared for? These are the mistakes of the people who like to remind themselves that they are the ‘adults in the room’ when compared to Trump. However, upholding democracy requires more than just being a good person. Competence is a prerequisite. In some ways, Trump and Biden put together are a perfect metaphor for the 21st-century US. Old and incompetent, criminal and unprincipled, selfish and stubborn, with their best years behind them. That these men still find themselves at the top only points to a greater sea of incompetence and dishonesty around them. A country that has been led to this point by its best and brightest has no business auditing anybody else’s elections.