Biden Drops Out
I'm disappointed and relieved.
"Disappointed," because I hold Joe Biden in high esteem as a lawmaker and as a human.
His life in politics gave him huge amounts of experience, insights, and instincts. Presidents make decisions based on the briefings they get every morning. Biden learned from the morning briefing, plus the decades he'd spent working adjacently or directly with this exact threat, this issue, this country, this individual. He sees the decades of events and policy decisions that shaped a certain crisis or a certain opportunity. He benefits from long-range perspective and an understanding of Context.
He respects the awesome responsibility of the Presidency.
More important than that is his humanity. He knows that the job isn't about himself or his legacy. He's humble.
(Or at least as humble as the President of the United States can possibly be. Try to remember how you felt after you saw "The Rise Of Skywalker." You needed to do something with those feelings, didn't you? Now imagine that you were the Commander-In-Chief of the world's most powerful fighting force. You'd lean back in your chair behind the Resolute Desk and look up at the ceiling and let your mind wander for a minute or two, wouldn't you?)
(Continuing)
Biden shows empathy, even when cameras and microphones are off. He understands that policy impacts people. He shares responsibility for victories and takes blame for failures. When he talks about tragedies that he's experienced in his personal life – and there have been many – he talks about lessons learned, the power of grief, the grounding that comes from suffering, the importance of finding a path forward.
He's a proper human.
So I'm disappointed by the fact that there's now one fewer of that kind of candidate in the running for the Oval Office.
I'm also relieved. I'm not overly concerned about his immediate ability to perform his Presidential duties. But I was concerned about his ability to govern throughout the four years of a second term. For many people, their 80th trip around the Sun begins an era of Good Days and Not-As-Good Days. As time progresses, the proportion only gets worse.
Biden moved from promising to campaign all the way through to November to declaring – on personal, not White House, letterhead – that he was out, over the course of a weekend. I don't think we'll learn the true journey of that final decision until the first wave of post-Presidency books about Biden arrives. Perhaps he threw in the towel because he was a strong enough politician to see that his candidacy was eroding. The pressure from Democratic leaders and donors was strong. Perhaps Biden concluded that his unshakeable confidence in his health and in his ultimate victory had become irrelevant.
However he got there…he got there. Joe Biden backed out of the race when he was the presumptive nominee of his party and his polling numbers were solid. There's a long list of bad (or at least unhelpful) human qualities that could have urged a man in Biden's position to Look Tough and steer the ship straight into hell, regardless of outcome.
We wish there were more people like that in politics. Ironically, we're going to have one fewer of those Good Humans, those Better People, in government…because Biden is one of them.
Listen to Conan O'Brien's hourlong interview with President Biden. If you don't agree with my opinion of Joe Biden afterwards, we really have nothing to discuss on the matter.
And if you disagree with my opinion of "The Rise Of Skywalker"…
…well. I was going to make a joke here. But in truth, I'm glad you saw a movie that you enjoyed. This is going to be a very tense summer and autumn for all Americans. I think we're all going to rely on our favorite art to help us through. ⓘ