The Roots of Biden Panic
The people worrying about Joe Biden’s vulnerabilities aren’t wrong. And neither are the people who want to stay the course.
1. The Roots of Biden Panic
Last week I wrote a triptych on Biden, Trump, and 2024 (part one, two, three) and I’m worried that I made the argument more complicated than it needs to be. So let me try to simplify.
There is something close to panic about Joe Biden’s candidacy right now: he’s too old, his approval numbers are bad, he’s running close against Trump in polling. We must make a change—do something!—or else Trump will win.
In some quarters the response to these expressions of panic is denial: Biden’s age doesn’t actually matter. We’re not at the binary choice point yet. Trump can’t possibly win. You have to just stick with Biden.
The reason we have this disagreement is because, to a large degree, both sides are correct.
We can solve this dissonance with the healing power of And.