If US President Joe Biden had executed on his strategy for the debate with his Republican challenger Donald Trump, we would not be here right now.
Biden wanted an early debate to change the trajectory of the campaign that had him lagging, effectively tied head-to-head for the national vote, but trailing in most of the battleground
swing states that will decide the election.
Biden got his preferred debate format and rules. Everyone – even many in the Trump camp – was expecting to see the Prosecutor-In-Chief take Trump down as an extremist and disgraced convicted felon who would eviscerate America’s democracy.
Instead, it was Biden whose flailings, freezing and mutterings allowed Trump to execute on his strategy for the debate: to show that Biden was no longer fit for duty and must be removed from office. Seared into the public’s lens on this election is a view that while both candidates are too old, it is Biden who wears that burden more heavily.
The post-debate polls show Biden with a record low approval today of 36 per cent. No president seeking re-election has won from there. Biden’s television interview last week was primed to recover steadiness, authority and command. He failed. Biden is resolute that he will continue the campaign – that he will not stand aside unless “The Lord Almighty” counsels him otherwise.
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But there was one moment when Biden’s words opened the trap door on the platform on which he is
standing. George Stephanopoulos of ABC America asked, “And if you stay in and Trump is elected and everything you’re warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?” Biden replied, “I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the good as job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about.”
No, Mr President, sorry. This is about defeating Trump – and not about whether you did your best and lost. Representative Adam Schiff, who was the lead House manager of the impeachment of Trump for the January 6 insurrection, and who is favoured in his race for the US Senate in California, said in response to Biden, “That is the answer that most concerned me as well. This is not just about whether he gave it the best college try, but rather whether he made the right decision to run or to pass the torch.”
The transaction costs of Biden refusing to pass the torch are enormous. If Biden stays in the race, we will not know the answer to Stephanopoulos’ question until the day after the election. The fear driving Democratic members of the House and Senate to conclude that Biden must stand aside is the fear that Biden’s staying in the race will directly affect the control of Congress.