US President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek re-election was both inevitable and right. After his faltering performance in recent public appearances, Biden could no longer brush aside questions about his ability to serve four more years in office.
By stepping aside now, Biden can retire with honour and a significant record of achievement as president. He has also ensured that American voters will have a proper choice in November. Millions of voters who have deep and justified concerns about Donald Trump would still have struggled to vote for a visibly declining president.
Biden has now thrown his support behind Kamala Harris, his vice-president. Democratic party leaders are rallying behind Harris and she is the overwhelming favourite to be the party’s candidate against Trump.
The sudden elevation of the vice-president carries its own risks. Harris is an unproven candidate on the national stage. Her campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2020 flopped badly. Like most vice-presidents, she has struggled to establish herself as a strong figure in her own right.
It would be preferable for Harris to face real competition for the Democratic party nomination. A proper contest would help to ensure that the Democrats select a candidate with a proven ability to appeal to a wide cross sections of voters and the political skills to take on Trump.
But with just four weeks to go before the Democratic convention, and many party figures and donors expressing their support, it seems unlikely they will run primary elections. An open convention — in which candidates compete for the support of delegates — might generate public attention and give the eventual victor added legitimacy. But, in modern times, open conventions are also an untried process that could be a formula for chaos. There is also, as yet, little sign that other major players in the Democratic party are willing to step forward to challenge Harris for the nomination at this late stage.
Trump and the Republican party are already arguing that a coronation of Harris would be undemocratic. Yet the Democratic party can nominate whoever it likes as its candidate, provided it follows the law and the party rule-book. The voters will get their say on Harris — or whoever the Democrats select — in November.
The Republicans are on surer ground when they raise the question of Biden’s continued fitness to serve as president. The obvious riposte to this is that there is a clear difference between serving out another six months as America’s chief executive and taking on another four-year term in office.
Nonetheless, given the visible evidence of Biden’s decline and the responsibilities of the office, it would be advisable for the president to take medical tests to prove his physical and mental ability to continue in office. Those tests should be taken quickly and the results should be made public.
Despite the shock of Biden’s decision — and the legitimate questions surrounding Harris — the US, and the world, is now in a better position than it was last week.
Donald Trump is unsuited to be the next president of the United States. His efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election revealed the instincts and morals of a dictator. A succession of close aides of Trump during his first presidency have since denounced him — and underlined his moral and intellectual unfitness for high office. The foreign and economic policies that Trump is proposing for America are dangerous and incoherent.
It is vital for America and the world that Trump is defeated in November. Biden was no longer capable of leading the fight against Trump. He was right to step aside.