Eugene Robinson: If Biden's poll numbers head south, Schumer, Pelosi and Clyburn need to intervene [View all]

[BeyondGeography]

Biden’s 2024 survival requires a lot more than hope

…It is irresponsible for leading Democrats and the Biden campaign to blithely pretend last Thursday’s presidential debate never happened. We saw what we saw and heard what we heard. Magical thinking does not win elections.
Biden was alarmingly frail and struggled to complete his thoughts, let alone his sentences. And Trump confirmed every fear about what giving him another four years in the White House would mean for the nation and the world.
Before the debate, polls showed the race essentially tied, with Trump narrowly leading in some decisive swing states. If Biden now falls significantly behind, the party must consider alternative candidates.

…The Biden campaign’s response to the debacle has been unconvincing. Biden’s forceful speech at a rally Friday was good, but, of course, there is a difference between the thrust-and-parry of a debate and scripted remarks. It takes time and repetition to erase the kind of impression Biden made at the debate.
One statement from the Biden campaign described those questioning whether Biden should stay in the race as the “bedwetting brigade.” I’ve never had patience for Democrats looking for reasons to freak out. I’ve always believed that voters, in the end, would find Biden’s diminished vigor and record of accomplishment preferable to Trump’s energetic narcissism and record of failure.
They still might. But I wasn’t counting on a spectacle like that debate.

…Biden is determined to stay in the race, and reportedly he has the full backing of his family and inner circle. I can understand why the president might bristle at calls to step aside from a bunch of know-it-all columnists and commentators who have never run a campaign for student council.
But there are voices he respects. It is understandable that veteran Democratic warriors such as Reps. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and James E. Clyburn (S.C.), as well as Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), would repeat the Biden campaign’s talking points right now.
But they cannot unsee how feeble and unsteady Biden was Thursday night. They owe it to their party and their country to watch the polling trends with cold eyes. And if Biden’s numbers head south, they need to organize an intervention.

More at https://wapo.st/4eNbLEt