A Case of Bad Advice

A number of anti-Trump pundits and others have been urging Biden to drop out and allow a stronger candidate to be nominated. Often mentioned are governors Gavin Newsom (CA), Gretchen Whitmer (MI), and Josh Shapiro (PA). This is bad advice. If Biden dropped out, it would be like an admission that Republicans were right in claiming that he is too old and feeble and has been a terrible president. Whomever the Democrats chose to replace him would immediately be demonized and attacked with misinformation and conspiracy theories. It’s likely that the supposed stronger candidate would become the weaker candidate.

It has long been too late for such a move. Biden needs to be more exposed —- with press conferences and the equivalent of fireside chats. He could easily prevail in a debate with Trump provided that rules are strictly in place that would bar Trump from interrupting, exceeding his time limit, and indulging in his customary forms of misbehavior. Is such a debate about to happen? (A debate is scheduled for June 27.) I’d be optimistic if I knew that Biden would have the considerable amount of extra uninterrupted time he would need to refute Trump’s lies.