It was a bad night for Joe Biden. It was a bad night for America and her democracy. There was a debate- a first of its kind- where the mood was too elderly. We witnessed two old men indulging in a pit bull fight which was neither punchy nor feisty.
But what was distressing yet heartening to see was a sincere old man’s compelling willingness to put up a fight against a tyrant. A tyrant who continues to lie so incessantly, extravagantly, and unabashedly. Lies the tyrant continues to blast with brazen confidence, with a smile, a sneer. A tyrant who has vowed to bring more chaos into the chaos.
Politics after all is all about perception.
Joe Biden’s mission on the night of the debate was but only one: to prove to his detractors, his critics, and even his well-wishers that he was fit to fight the tyrant. Over the last few months everybody agreed to ignore reports, photo grabs, zoomed photos, over zoomed photos pointing to the frail health and demeanor of Joe Biden. Many did not want to believe it, for it wasn’t Joe Biden’s age which seemed like a seeming threat, Donald Trump’s ruthless mind was the grave threat.
But by the end of 90 minutes, however, it became clear that Biden was no longer the man he was in 2019. He no longer has the agility, the physical and mental strength to dismantle and disengage the chaos of time from time.
Photos of the mood of the people from the night of the debate are thus telling. Gloom in the faces and eyes of many. A pall of despair and distress seems to have been unleashed in the air. There is shock, there is a surprise, and there is an unwanted chill running through the spine. Americans are aghast, and a worry is running high and dry in their minds. A friend who recently moved from the UK to the USA is troubled with an overwhelming troubling question, ‘did I make a terrible mistake’.
It was all too distressing to see. Not just for Americans, but many abroad too. For as Trump rambled vindictively, coherent in his foolishness, in his malicious lying, the 81-year-old Joe Biden was doe-eyed, sparkling in confusion, in absentia. The president stammered indecipherably, mumbling, spluttering, and stuttering to complete his lines of attack. Many times he seemed enveloped in brain fog. He was unconvincing but convinced his doubters that he is no longer the right man to fight and if wins (probability is none to none) fit enough to run for a whole four years.
As I watched the debate unfold, my heartfelt sorry for Joe Biden. But more than that there emerged more respect for the man. Unlike his former contemporaries who had by his age retired, moved away from politics into peace, enjoying the serenity of time with grandkids and passion, Joe Biden did not take the easy way out. Despite giving half of his life to politics, to the American people, serving them tirelessly through personal tragedies, moving on, and taking the fight head on, he continues to take the fight on, head on, take the bull by its horn even when his age tells him otherwise.
Many feel that Biden is the one who doesn’t want to step down, pointing out that Biden had presented himself as the figure best positioned to defeat the threat to democracy represented by Trump. But really what it feels is that there neither existed then nor now any other Democrat who has the tenacity, the audaciousness to take on the insipid foolishness and brashness of Donald Trump. 81-year-old Joe Biden took upon the baton because neither Kamla Harris (who is plagued by low approval ratings barely higher than Biden’s) nor former California governor Gavin Newsom seem the legitimate choice to put up a fight against Trump. Nor is there any other candidate who is a formidable Trump basher cum astute President-like figure.
Undeniably the debate was a devastating debacle for Joe Biden. And the American media has been brutally stony towards Joe Biden. The verdict of the New York Times’s editorial board was devastating. The US president, the board forcefully argued, had presented such an alarming spectacle of aged frailty that the best thing he could now do for the country he had served for more than half a century was to withdraw from the race and allow his Democratic party to choose another candidate. Meanwhile, the Atlantic wrote six articles all arguing for an end to the Biden candidacy. And then there was the TIME cover. In the background of morbid blood red, typed PANIC was a Joe Biden exiting. The media is hard on pressing Biden to step down immediately for the sake of his legacy, and his goodwill. They are hoping along with the Silicon Valley moguls that Jill Biden be convinced to convince her husband to step down.
The messaging has been blatant and forthright. The desire is pragmatic. But ringing alarm bells and hitting panic buttons is coming too late.
But Joe Biden remains unperturbed, undeterred (for now). He has not been convinced that there exists any other Democrat who can take on Donald Trump and his maliciousness.
His willpower remains adamant but willpower does not seem to have Joe Biden
Post the debate, he came out swinging on Friday, appearing much more upbeat at an election rally in North Carolina, admitting that “I don’t debate as well as I used to” but telling a cheering crowd: “I know how to tell the truth … I know how to do this job. I know – like millions of Americans know – when you get knocked down, you get back up.”
Yes, Joe Biden is not fighting to keep his power intact; he is fighting to keep the American democracy intact.
The night of the 27th was bad for America, indeed. The tyrants of the World would be celebrating and cheering. My friend is right to be troubled. The mood all over has become daunting. There lies uncertainty both for America and the world.
But elections this year have been shocking. The people were surprising. India is a great example of that. If the World’s largest democracy can remain democratic, can put the right into its right place, the World’s oldest democratic too can pull the same rabbit out of the hat.
And let’s not forget, that the time is heavily daunted by the voice and concerns of the young voters. In America, poll after poll has put the younger voters in the camp of Joe Biden, despite the Gaza debacle. Quite reasonably, they want to know what Biden will do for them if he is re-elected. And Joe Biden has proven that he has it to be re-elected. After a debacle in the debate, the next evening he showed his tenacity to fight, despite his age hindering him.
And when there is will in the willpower a forlorn, alone fight can become more resolute, more punchy. I feel, it will take more than just bad press, social memes, and panicky Silicon Valley tycoon for Joe Biden to step down. For when people have to choose between an old man and a tyrant, we know where people go.
