BIDEN: WHEN THE LORD ALMIGHTY SPEAKS

Nick Dazang 

Following his lacklustre performance against Donald Trump in the first, high-stakes presidential debate hosted by the Cable News Network (CNN), last month, the influential New York Times and a few Democratic operatives had canvassed that President Joe Biden step down.

In spite of these initial reservations, President Biden was obstinate. In an interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos, he had vowed, in the manner of haughty tin-pot dictators, that: “Only the Lord Almighty could compel me to quit”.

Last Sunday, however, President Biden came down from his high horse. It seems finally that the Lord Almighty spoke to him. For in spite of frenetic interviews and rallies, calibrated to repair the initial self-inflicted damage, the pundits and Democratic bigwigs had put the then impending, grueling three-day NATO summit and a solo press conference to be addressed by President Biden, in the aftermath of the summit, as the final key tests. They were to serve as the final benchmark as to whether his candidature was sustainable or not. Whereas he passed the NATO summit test with ease and distinction, he flunked the solo press conference outright.
His slips at the press conference and dwindling poll ratings provided further unvarnished evidence for Democratic heavyweights and deep pocket donors that Biden’s path to the presidency was in peril. It also provided fodder for his traducers. George Clooney, one of Hollywood’s diadems and a fundraiser par excellence, wrote in a damning op-ed entitled “I love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee” that:”But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time”.

Thereafter, even staunch supporters of the President, who were previously subdued in their criticisms such as former Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, and former President Barack Obama began to express reservations. Former impeachment manager, and a Pelosi ally, Adam Schiff, was strident. In a statement, Schiff insisted that:”While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time to pass the torch.”
Thus, what began as a drip soon assumed the proportion of a torrential downpour. Key Democratic members of Congress joined in asking the President to step down. They included five Senators and thirty two House members.

Matters were not helped by a health scare which seemed to have delivered the final salvo or coup de grace. President Biden was said to have contracted COVID-19. Consequently, he was forced to self-isolate and to contemplate his political future in his house at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
At this point, and with a cascade of pleas for President Biden to step down, and with donors zipping their purses, it occurred to him that the Lord Almighty had finally spoken. The voice of the people morphed into the voice of God: It was Vox Populi, Vox Dei, in the true sense.

When President Biden finally agreed to step down, in a terse statement, he endorsed his Vice, Kamala Harris. Said he:”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”.

In endorsing Harris, President Biden effectively shut the door against other possible contestants lurking in the background. Secondly, he appears to have finally kept faith with his initial pledge to be a transitional President. Thirdly, he seems to have made it up to Harris, who had been given the short shrift by the Biden presidency and the Biden campaign in spite of her unflinching loyalty. Fourthly, by graciously stepping down, President Biden has secured a place for himself and his legacy in the pantheon of great one-term presidents.

If President Biden’s stepping down from the presidential contest had earned him an enviable place in history, he appears to have altered, if not upended, the trajectory of the presidential campaign. Former President Trump made heavy weather out of Biden’s age and his physical vigor. Now with Kamala Harris at 59, and about twenty years younger than Trump at 78, the issue of age has collapsed on its face. If anything, the joke is now on Trump.

For Vice President Kamala Harris, the initial fears were that her candidature would be a hard sell, what with the prospect of other potential contestants. Many feared the prospect of a raucous or chaotic Democratic Convention as against the smooth Republican one which took place before Biden stepped down from the contest. However, these fears were soon dispelled. In a matter of hours after President Biden’s endorsement, key Democrats, including likely presidential contestants endorsed Harris. They include: former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary State, Hillary Clinton, former Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, Transport Secretary, Pete Buttegieg, Senator Mark Kelly, Governors: Josh Shapiro, Gavin Newsom, Roy Cooper and Andy Beshear.
As at Wednesday, 24th July, she had garnered the support of 100% Democratic Party Governors, 96% Democratic Party Senators and 93% of her party members in the House of Representatives. Pronto, she received the endorsement of more than the 1,976 delegates needed to win her the nomination at the Convention next month in Chicago. What is more spectacular, donors who were previously dubious about Biden’s candidature have unzipped their purses.
Apart from altering the course and timbre of the November election, Harris’s emergence will add verve to the presidential contest as well as focus on the issues.
Furthermore, Harris’s advent as a female candidate, coming after Hillary Clinton’s bid in 2016, will test the voters and the pulse of America. It will ascertain if America has finally come to terms with the prospect of a female President.
Additionally, it will test Harris’s capacity to run a formidable campaign. Her 2020 presidential bid, which was initially hallmarked by fireworks, petered out to the dismay of her admirers.
Finally, the campaign, in addition to dwelling on issues, will bring to the fore the question of morality. It will not be lost on voters, pundits and observers that this is a contest between a nonparail former prosecutor and a serial liar, a philanderer and a convicted felon. The contrast is so sharp and so compelling that it will define the contest.

Photo Credit: Oregon Capital Chronicle