Biden’s dotage v Trumpian chaos
A new Wall Street Journal poll showing US voters overwhelmingly view Joe Biden, 80, as too old to run for re-election is no surprise. Neither is its conclusion that they regard Donald Trump, three years Mr Biden’s junior, as dishonest. Fourteen months before next year’s presidential election, Democrats and Republicans would be unwise to ignore the findings. They need to be realistic and look beyond Mr Biden and Mr Trump to younger, less tarnished and more credible candidates for the White House. Mr Biden, if he is honest, cannot overlook the poll’s conclusion that even two-thirds of Democrats reckon he’s past it. And Mr Trump, despite his colossal ego, must realise that while he may have the Republican nomination sewn up, independent voters hold the key to whether he can win. With each new indictment against him, they are less likely to vote him in. “If Republicans nominate Mr Trump, they are likely to be sailing into a political headwind that will be difficult to overcome,” The Wall Street Journal said.
The enormous support for Mr Trump among Republicans masks that reality. So do the actions of nervous Democrats who, despite winning every electoral battle against him since they lost with Hillary Clinton in 2016, reportedly are looking at ways, if push comes to shove, to invoke section three of the US constitution’s 14th amendment to disqualify him from even appearing on the ballot because of his involvement in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol. Doing so would be an outrage and further feed Mr Trump’s claims that he is the victim of a political witch-hunt.
But that does not change the need for Republicans and Democrats to seek better candidates. Mr Biden is deep in his dotage, struggling to meet the demands of his current term, let alone another. Vice-President Kamala Harris inspires no confidence as his replacement. Mr Trump remains irredeemably tarnished even before any possible conviction on charges relating to January 6, similar to those under which leaders of the deranged Proud Boys group have been sentenced to prison for as much as 22 years. The US presidency and its crucial global leadership role demand better than a return to Trumpian turmoil or a continuation of Mr Biden’s failings.
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