If the current US President Joe Biden had followed the example of Lyndon Johnson, who in 1968 shocked Americans with his statement about his refusal to be re-elected for a new presidential term, it might have saved the Democrats and prevented the victory of Republican Donald Trump in the next election, writes Justin Webb in an article for The Times. According to the author, such a decision could also be supported by the president’s wife, Jill, if she realised that in the upcoming election her husband risked making history with a future failure.
If incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden stays and continues in the race – it could mean that some other alternative candidate who could seriously compete in the election will miss the deadline to get on the ballot. But that could change if Biden simply decides to drop out and “unseat” his delegates at the upcoming Democratic Party convention to be held in Chicago in August, suggests Justin Webb in an article for The Times.
In that case, he argues, “the game will go on” – and influential Democratic officials wanted it to go on, too, because they are extremely concerned about the negative results of recent opinion polls. These polls not only indicate that Biden is in serious danger of losing the election to Republican Donald Trump. In addition, voter responses show that a significant portion of the electorate has changed its position and is increasingly inclined to believe that their lives will be better under Trump than under Biden, the article said.
A court ruling in Colorado, which this week handed down a verdict that Trump should not be allowed to run again, has only added to the anxiety. That said, many expect the US Supreme Court to eventually overturn the decision. And many Americans, especially those who don’t go into the details of the legal proceedings, have the distinct impression that Trump is a victim being persecuted rather than a perpetrator of election fraud, the author notes.
Even Democrats are increasingly questioning whether they still want Biden as their nominee. The White House is under increasing pressure, and it’s becoming more and more obvious that action needs to be taken and some changes made to sway voter sentiment. According to anonymous sources, Biden himself is also not thrilled with the situation and has voiced criticism of his team.
He also can’t understand why some good economic indicators – including falling unemployment and economic growth – don’t excite his audience, the article said. A recent extensive study in a number of “swing” states by the Democracy Corps Democratic Advisory Group, led by Stan Greenberg, found that inflation and rising cost of living attract more attention and concern from the public than other factors.
And this is noticeable among all social and ethnic groups, Greenberg notes. African-Americans, Asians, Latinos, people of different generations and sexual orientations, students and many others express higher approval ratings for Trump than for Biden – and extremely low approval ratings for the gains Democrats have made in recent years.
From the outside, this assessment might seem odd or unfair, at a time when the US economy has been feeling much better in recent months and inflation seems to have been defeated. However, the White House is not benefiting politically from this, the article emphasises.
According to James Carville, one of the most prominent politicians from the Clinton-era Democratic Party, the reason for this is “cowardice” and the fact that the governing elite often put personal interests ahead of the country’s interests. Carville calls this a “massive failure” of the upper echelons of the Democratic Party and believes it could even lead to the abrogation of the Constitution.
According to the author, the way out of this situation could be Biden’s refusal to participate in the new elections to give hope to the Democrats to still defeat Trump. As a historical example, he cites the statement of US President Lyndon Johnson, who in March 1968 shocked the entire country by announcing that he would not run for another term, amid a number of aggravated domestic problems and negative consequences of the Vietnam War. The presidential election was only a few months away at the time, the article notes.
This story still resonates today because there is no official national deadline to file to run for president, the author emphasises. If we ask ourselves who can really defeat Donald Trump, it becomes obvious that Biden is unlikely to succeed – so if he admits it and decides to withdraw from the election race, such an unexpected step would allow him to remain a hero and saviour of the nation in the eyes of many Democrats, the article says.
According to the author, Biden’s wife, Jill, who is said to be very attentive to his legacy, could also influence this. Especially if she takes into account the fact that although on the eve of Johnson’s resignation 57 per cent of Americans disapproved of his performance as president, literally overnight the statistics reversed.
“We’re used to Donald Trump shocking us and taking us by surprise. Biden’s departure could also come as a shock. But it is possible that it could also be a game changer,” the author concludes.