LAST UPDATE | 28 Jun
IT WAS A terrible, embarrassing night for America. This was my contemporaneous reaction in the wee hours as I watched the much anticipated encounter of Joe Biden and Donald Trump. A little bit of sleep and some deeper reflection only exacerbated my disappointment and depression.
Trump was Trump, though his worst excesses were curbed by the muting of microphones and he definitely benefitted as a result. Nonetheless, he was full of his usual bombast and lied repeatedly and shamelessly; he greatly exaggerated both the magnitude of his own accomplishments while in the White House and the extent of his opponent’s failings. CNN fact-checkers found that the ex-star of The Apprentice uttered approximately 30 falsehoods in 90 minutes.
This was not unexpected. We know who Donald Trump is and we know what he does. He has an extraordinary appeal that many of us endeavour in vain to comprehend, yet it remains. He has a grip on the unwavering loyalties of a broad swathe of the electorate. They might deny it, but politicians of all ideological persuasions everywhere would give anything for the hold he has on their affection.
Some of his enemies, misguided by a palpable hatred that Trump seems to uniquely inspire, claim that Republicans have been led astray politically by him. They ignore the reality that his message and persona have found considerably more favour with Americans than the traditional right-wing dogma and dignified bearing on offer from defeated aspirants like John McCain and Mitt Romney.
Donald Trump is the number one reason why the white working class, Latinos, Asian Americans and Black men are flocking in unprecedented numbers to the GOP. What’s more, his objectively flawed moral compass and the clouds of legal trouble swirling around him have had no discernible negative impact on his standing in the polls. Trump and Trumpism have been a boon to what had been a conservative movement adrift.
In the wake of last night’s debacle in Atlanta, he is the odds on favourite to be the 47th President of the United States. Further, the Republicans are in good position to regain control of the US Senate and increase their majority in the US House of Representatives.
As for Joe Biden, it is not pleasant to kick a man when he is down – especially when he is a good person who has come through a massive amount of adversity and served his country honourably for half a century. That does not change the truth: he absolutely should not be seeking a second term.
Let’s imagine for a moment that he had not. His status in the history books would be elevated. He would have been remembered as a senior statesman who was the ideal, perhaps the only, man for the vitally important job of ending the tumult and damage flowing from the Trump presidency. Then, he admirably passed the torch to the next generation.
Instead, he announced his intention to go again when it was apparent to all that he was not up to what is an undeniably mammoth task. This time, there would be no pandemic, which facilitated a relatively low profile, low octane campaign in 2020. There would be no avoiding the glare of the spotlight. And in this crucial faceoff, President Biden was more honest than his foe. But he was faltering; he lost his train of thought on multiple occasions; and his facial expression was often vacant. It was obviously a huge struggle for him from start to finish.
That we are where we are is a damning indictment of the political system in the US and, specifically, the inner workings of the two big parties. Joe Biden has been in the arena forever and has been running for president for decades. A combination of inside baseball, the almighty dollar and the inherent power of incumbency allowed him and his allies to close off the pathways of all serious putative challengers. There is plenty of finger pointing and panic today.
Two questions arise now. Is it too late to replace him? Can he be talked into abandoning his re-election bid? On the latter, my suspicion is that only his wife, family and very dear friends could convince him. And that is no sure thing.
Technically, if the 81-year-old were persuaded, he could be supplanted. This would entail his effectively surrendering the delegates whose support is pledged to him by virtue of his winning Democratic primaries and caucuses and thereby permitting these women and men to cast ballots for another candidate at the Democratic National Convention in August.
Who might they choose? Governors Gavin Newsom of California and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan would be formidable replacements. This is all still very much in the realm of the hypothetical, however. There is no sign that the incumbent is amenable to stepping aside. This course of action would also precipitate wide-ranging uncertainty and upheaval that would bolster Trump.
Since it became apparent that a Biden-Trump rematch was nearly bound to happen, the entirely legitimate riposte – are these two actually the best that your country can come up with? — has been put to me over and over again.
It sprang to mind during their heated argument as to who the better golfer is, a tortured dispute typically had in the clubhouse by old pals who’ve been drinking pints for the day following a morning round. This one transpired in the midst of a debate between the two people who want to lead the free world in front of an audience of hundreds of millions.
For fuck’s sake.
I despair. God bless America, indeed.
Larry Donnelly is a Boston lawyer, a Law Lecturer at the University of Galway and a political columnist with TheJournal.ie.
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