So what kind of campaign should he run now?
Because if Biden’s plan two weeks ago was to campaign as a kind of ageless superhero — this ridiculous “Dark Brandon” thing — set to enact a bold agenda over the next four years, then someone should tell him that whole flotilla has sailed. When 70-plus percent of voters think you won’t be able to keep up with the job based on what they’ve seen with their own eyes, then there’s really no realistic path to victory in insisting that you will.
If I were advising Biden, I’d tell him there’s a more persuasive way to embody the future, as all candidates must. He should run as an elder statesman with one last, critical service to render to his country, aside from keeping Donald Trump out of the White House — which is to turn the government over, at long last, to a cohort of leaders that doesn’t remember the moon landing.
This time, Biden should offer himself up not as a bridge to the next generation but as an off-ramp, finally, for the boomers.
Don’t underestimate the role that pent-up generational frustration has played in nearly forcing Biden off the ticket. Sure, none of this would be happening if Biden’s debate performance hadn’t terrified Democrats about his prospects in November. Before that, the anxiety over his age was more like a background hum.
But in the days after the debate, you sensed some real enthusiasm among Democrats for the opening that seemed to have presented itself. Now, with Biden teetering on the verge of collapse because of his age, their party wouldn’t be able to replace him with another octogenarian. (Biden is even too old to qualify technically as a boomer, having been born before the end of World War II.) When an open convention suddenly seemed possible, so too did a moment when a younger candidate who wasn’t Vice President Harris might have been able to crash the stage.
Biden may yet succeed in holding off that rebellion. But the smart thing would be to co-opt it for his own purposes: to propose a transformational vision of the next four years that doesn’t rely on his ability to work past 8 o’clock at night.
Noted political survivor Bill Clinton has always said (and here I’m paraphrasing to keep it PG): When you’re in the mud, steer into it. So if I were Biden, I’d say:
Sure, I’m feeling my age now, and I don’t have a ton left in the tank. I probably won’t be jetting off to Europe in four years’ time. And you know what? My generation is spent, too. We’ve stayed on the stage for way too long. But I promised to deliver this country from Trumpism and get us to the next American moment. And if you let me finish that job, I’ll share power with younger leaders who haven’t been given their chance.
Companies do this all the time when they bump the chief executive up to chair. Who better to oversee a transition than a guy with a half-century of experience and relationships all over the world?
Biden should start with the convention. No more doddering lawmakers, no more former presidents gone gray, and — for the love of God — no more Kennedys. Stack the prime-time lineup with lesser-known governors and mayors, with younger members of Congress and the Cabinet. Cast yourself as a grandfatherly figure, a “presider in chief” gathering up the best young talent you can find.
Bring Harris front and center, more like a partner than a subordinate. Reassure people that if you’re not around for some reason, your replacement will be ready to go, whether she’s everyone’s top choice or not.
Then, instead of waiting for the post-election period to build a Cabinet for the second term, start rolling out major appointments during the fall campaign, with the clear message that these new appointees will operate with unusual independence. Presidents always insist they’re the ones calling every shot; Biden should take the opposite approach, presenting his next administration as a period for promoting high-profile talent and decentralizing the bureaucracy, trusting the party’s best minds to push their own reforms. (Biden’s first-term Cabinet has been able enough, but it’s not exactly pulsing with a Colin L. Powell-Hillary Clinton star power vibe.)
Why not move Gina Raimondo to chief of staff, or Pete Buttigieg to secretary of state? How about bringing in two or three governors — Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsom, Wes Moore — who might run to replace you? The 2028 primaries are somebody else’s problem. The job right now is to create the image of an administration that cares more about the next 30 years than the next election.
There would be howls from Republicans, of course, that Biden was running to be a figurehead rather than a president. But I’m guessing most independent voters would take a kindly figurehead who empowers smart, younger leaders over a volatile narcissist who’s hellbent on delivering retribution. And they’re not going to believe Biden is fully in charge, anyway, so he might as well get credit for being the one guy in the race who’s telling the truth.
Almost 52 years ago, just before turning the minimum age of 30, Joe Biden got himself elected to the Senate on a promise of generational upheaval. He should run this last campaign in exactly the same way — and give the Sixties generation the send-off it deserves.
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