Race to the White House - Super-GA pulp in US election year: Biden's dramatic withdrawal
Joe Biden makes an unusual departure. No formal speech at the White House, no grand appearance, but instead a plain written declaration that he releases simultaneously over several social media platforms, while he himself is in Corona isolation at his private home in Delaware.
"Dear fellow Americans", he writes - and it's not until four paragraphs later that he gets to the point: "Although it was my intention to seek re-election, I believe that it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to step aside and for the remainder of my term to focus exclusively on the fulfillment of my duties as President."
In the coming days, he will give the nation more details about his decision, the 81-year-old announces. In another social media post, he expresses his support for his Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place and be the Democratic nominee for president in the November election. Then there is silence.
Chaos - and an opportunity
The dramatic step is something like a Super-GAU in a US election year, which is already exceptional – and in which so much is at stake as never before.
That a US presidential candidate drops out so close to the election, according to American media, has never happened before. And that a party publicly chases its own incumbent out of the race in the White House about three and a half months before the election is an unprecedented act in US terms.
Biden's Democrats and the country now face chaotic weeks. For the party, it is also an opportunity: To finally put an end to the limiting and painful debate, to inject enthusiasm into the little-enthusiastic base, and to bring some momentum to their own campaign just before the finish line.
There was never much enthusiasm for Biden among the Democrats. From the beginning, there were concerns about his age. But there were no alternatives. The Democrats reluctantly rallied behind their incumbent. Their concerns about whether he was the right man for another four years in one of the toughest jobs in the world were expressed only quietly.
An unwelcome spectacle at the end
Biden's complete withdrawal from the TV duel against the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the end of June was a turning point: In the face of his disastrous performance before millions of viewers, many in the party could no longer remain silent. There was public rebellion. Several dozen Democrats publicly called on their party colleague to step down.
A stubborn Biden fought for three and a half weeks with all his strength against an early departure and declared, among other things, that only God could make him step down. In his desperate attempts to quell the rebellion, he made one embarrassing mistake after another, stumble, stutter – one worse than the other.
And with every day that Biden continued to fight against the inevitable, more and more Democrats publicly took positions against him and gave painful insights into his condition: for example, that he no longer recognized some of them at encounters. His struggle for political survival became an unwelcome spectacle. Biden himself is not innocent of this.
A tarnished political legacy
That Biden's long political career ends in this way is bitter. He could have made history as the president who drove Trump out of the White House and stabilized the country, leading the USA out of the coronavirus crisis, kick-starting the economy, and initiating unprecedented investments in climate protection and infrastructure. But his dishonorable departure dealt a lasting blow to his political legacy. Now he goes down in history as one who stumbled heavily at the finish line and yet refused to let go. Was it out of pride? Out of vanity?
Biden managed to make it into the White House only on his third try - as the oldest US president of all time. Perhaps the fact that it was so difficult for him to get there made letting go harder. The Democrat himself claims he decided to run for re-election out of a sense of responsibility. Until the end, he insisted that there was no one in the country better suited for the job – and only he could beat Trump again.
But as the incumbent, he should have had an easy game against a convicted criminal who attempted to sabotage the election outcome four years ago and incited his followers to a violent attack on the US Capitol. But Trump led in the polls for months. Biden's external condition had overshadowed his achievements for a long time.
The Solution
The fact that the party had no alternative candidates ready is largely Biden's own fault. In 2020, he ran as the transitional candidate to defeat Trump and then pass the baton to the next generation.
But he didn't give up power and failed to systematically build a successor.
Yes, his vice president Harris remained below expectations and hopes for her, despite her past invisibility, occasional ineptitude, and lack of authenticity. Biden delegated her difficult tasks, such as "containing causes of migration." Only at the last minute did she gain some profile on the abortion issue.
In their desperate situation, Democrats now look primarily at Harris as Biden's successor and overlook their previous weaknesses, mainly for pragmatic reasons. As Biden's vice president and the first woman and first Black person in the job, it would be difficult to overlook her. Moreover, she has national recognition and could potentially tap into the Wahlkampfapparat and likely also the collected donations from the previous Biden-Harris campaign. Whether the party follows Biden's suggestion and sends her as number one into the election remains to be seen.
Whether she has a chance to defeat Trump, that's another story.
- Despite releasing his decision to step aside as the Democratic nominee for president in the US Election 2024 from his isolation in Delaware due to Coronavirus, US-President Joe Biden expresses his support for Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place.
- The unexpected departure of Joe Biden, just three and a half months before the US Election 2024, is an unprecedented act in American politics, according to media reports, as it has never happened before for a presidential candidate to drop out so close to the election.
- Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, will likely benefit from the chaos caused by Biden's decision, as the Democrats now face the challenge of rallying behind Kamala Harris for the election.
- The withdrawal of Biden from the TV duel against Donald Trump in June was a turning point, leading to public rebellion and calls for Biden to step down included by several dozen Democrats.
- The Democrats' concerns about Biden's age and suitability for another four years in the White House, even though there were no alternative candidates, led to quiet protests and concerns, which eventually escalated to a public demand for Biden's resignation.
- The uncertainty surrounding the Democrats' campaign in the US Election 2024 has led to some pragmatic reasoning, with Kamala Harris, as the first woman and first Black vice president, being seen as the most viable candidate to carry on the party's legacy and potentially defeat Trump in the election.
