It's time for Biden to drop out

Why the President, for the sake of democracy, should withdraw from the race

Earlier today, Adam Schiff, my Congressman and the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate here in California, called on Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race. I agree with Congressman Schiff, and here’s why.

Let me first say that I’ve waited a couple weeks to write on this topic because it truly is an agonizing one. I waited not just because I wanted to see how things played out, but because I do have conflicted feelings.

I think Joe Biden has done a magnificent job as President- on so many fronts he has shown leadership and results that in many ways are unparalleled in comparison to other modern presidents. And I’m not entirely unmoved by the argument that he, as the only person to date who has managed to defeat Donald Trump in an election, has unique and compelling strengths as a candidate.

But, despite my best efforts to convince myself otherwise, I think the debate and the middling appearances and interviews that Biden has made since, have made it pretty clear that there is just no way, despite his historic achievements in office, that Joe Biden can win this November. And that is even more true after the disturbing incident in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday which, regardless of how you feel about Trump (and I am certainly not a fan), reinforced his image among his supporters and among some who are still undecided of being a martyr who is standing up against the system and fighting and surviving on behalf of the forgotten people of America.

Donald Trump has had a series of incredible, surreal occurrences break his way over the last few weeks, and unless we as Democrats change course I think we are pretty much on a glide path towards a historic defeat. And that is something that I can’t stand by and allow to happen. Not that my point of view is going to be determinative on that front, but I wanted to go on the record to show that I did what I could, while I had the chance, to help save our country and democracy.

Polling has come out in recent days that definitively demonstrates that if President Biden is the Democratic nominee we are pretty much guaranteed to lose. The national numbers may not be all that different, but on a state by state level things are looking pretty dire. States like Virginia, New Mexico and New Hampshire which haven’t gone for the Republican nominee since George W. Bush, twenty years ago are in danger of moving into the Trump column; even solidly blue states like New Jersey, Maine and New York appear to be vulnerable for Biden.

I want to reiterate that I am loyal Democrat since I registered to vote at 18 and even before that (was part of Kids for Kerry in 2004). I voted for Biden in 2020 in both the primary and general. I will of course support him enthusiastically if he decides to continue on as the nominee. But I simply don't think that’s the right decision, because, as much as I love and admire and am thankful to Biden for all of his accomplishments, this election is not about him. This is about the survival of our rights, our freedom, our nation.

The reality is that Kamala Harris would be a much stronger nominee. She did a great job as the VP nominee in 2020, including in her debate against Mike Pence, and she has the talent and potential to prove her doubters wrong, just as her predecessor as Vice President George Bush did when he was called a “wimp” yet turned things around and won in a landslide to succeed Ronald Reagan in the 1988 election. And I have no doubt that the big bench of Democratic talent- Pete Buttigieg, Wes Moore, Josh Shapiro, Gretchen Whitmer, Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker among them- could soundly defeat Donald Trump if they are given the chance to put themselves forward as nominees if there is an open convention next month.

There isn’t much time left to make this change. But with Schiff’s announcement today, and the two dozen Democratic lawmakers before him who also came out in favor of Biden’s withdrawal, I seriously hope the President will reconsider his position and gracefully exit the stage for the sake of the future of the United States. This is an existential moment for America if we don’t make a move now.