Tom Minear: The West Wing plot that Joe Biden forgot

Joe Biden’s allies are dismissing calls to replace him by arguing this election is not a TV show. Tom Minear argues there is a telling twist of irony in that insulting response.

There’s been a common refrain from Joe Biden’s allies in their desperation to tamp down calls for him to quit as the Democratic Party’s election nominee: this isn’t The West Wing.

For anyone who hasn’t seen Aaron Sorkin’s TV show, what they are saying is that changing candidates so close to an election is a fanciful Hollywood plot, not a plan to win.

You would be hard-pressed to find someone working in politics who hasn’t watched The West Wing, although more self-aware operators understand its idealism is often unrealistic.

That’s what Biden’s defenders are trying to tap into. The telling twist of irony is they appear to have forgotten a far more relevant storyline in Sorkin’s drama.

Actor Martin Sheen (centre) and cast from television show 'The West Wing'.

The president, helped by his wife, conceals the fact that he has a potentially debilitating neurological ailment. He is forced to reveal the diagnosis as he pursues a second term, and while he is re-elected, his condition worsens to the point that he is temporarily paralysed.

The Democratic discussion in the wake of Biden’s debate disaster has focused on whether he will lose to Donald Trump. Just as important is this: what if he wins?

The White House is treating Americans as fools by telling them the President’s meltdown was caused by some combination of a cold and jet lag, nearly two weeks after a Europe trip.

Ageing is a one-way street, and at 81, Biden is closer to the end than the beginning. It beggars belief that his aides calculate he can stay in the race if he avoids further missteps in the days to come, while ignoring how he could handle being the president at 86.

Actor Martin Sheen in a scene from TV show 'The West Wing'.

Even if voters are willing to give Biden another chance – and polls suggest they are not – it is downright Trumpian to tell them not to believe what they see with their own eyes.

Of course it would be difficult and messy for the Democrats to choose a new candidate. But if the alternative is Trump returning to power, then it would be political malpractice not to act.

It is frankly insane that Biden and his team have put themselves, their party and their country in this situation, months before an election in which they say democracy itself is at stake.

And it is insulting for them criticise those trying to change course. If they carry on like this, come November, all they will likely be left with is time to rewatch The West Wing.