Leave it to London’s The Economist to come up with this scheme. In a Jan. 4 commentary entitled “The Man Supposed To Stop Donald Trump Is an Unpopular 81-Year-Old,” this weekly mouthpiece for the City of London points out that Biden is old and very unpopular, being outpolled by Trump, facing untamed inflation and an approval rating that stands at −16 points. Back in 2023 Biden “could—and should—have decided to be a one-term President.” But now there are no good reasons for him to fight for another term. And Democratic leaders have been “cowardly and complacent … unwilling to act on their concern about Mr. Biden’s folly.”
After listing all the reasons why Biden is a problem, including his age, one might think he should be eased out the door, but The Economist concludes that this can’t be done. There would be too many logistical problems were a younger candidate found, changing primary dates, making the candidate well known, lawsuits, etc. And, horrors, were Biden to bow out, most likely the nomination would go to Vice President Kamala Harris, a walking disaster whose approval ratings are below Biden’s. What’s the solution? The Democrats are just going to have to focus on electing Biden. After all, the economy promises “a soft landing; workers are seeing real wage growth and full employment.”
