The big problem for the Democrats

Washington. It is already 7:57 p.m., three minutes before the time that Joe Biden is reportedly supposed to go to bed if the American president really turns up the heat. The 81-year-old is standing on a podium in the Washington Conference Center, where the heads of state and government of the 32 NATO states have been discussing the bleak world situation for the past three days. The white compass rose of the Defense Alliance is adorned behind his back.

One for all. All for one. That used to be the case. Now there is one alone.

I now give the floor to the President of Ukraine, President Putin.

“Mr. President, your political future is up in the air. How do you deal with it?” he was asked at the start of his press conference, and “Have you ever thought about what it means if you stay in the race and lose?” Biden’s voice was thick, he cleared his throat frequently and once referred to his deputy Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” – the second serious gaffe of the day, after he had introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at another event with the words: “I now hand over to the president of Ukraine, President Putin.”

Trump. Putin. His worst opponents. Of all things. One cannot help but be reminded of the disastrous TV duel with Donald Trump two weeks ago, when Biden boasted that he was “beating” health insurance. The debate over whether he was really just suffering from a cold or jet lag or from more serious psychological problems has since overshadowed all other topics in the US. And this press conference seems to overshadow them all.

Suddenly he is a different person

But then, after half an hour, the president calls on journalist David Sanger to ask a question. “Be nice, David!” Biden jokes. In effect, the New York Times security expert is asking for a strategy to counter the rapprochement between America’s archrivals Russia and China. Suddenly, the man at the lectern seems to have been replaced. Without a teleprompter or notes, he sets off on a 15-minute tour d’horizon that takes him from Beijing to North Korea to Iran to Ukraine to Israel. From the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the fatal mistakes of the war in Afghanistan to the lessons that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unfortunately refuses to learn from them.

Suddenly, there is the geopolitician, hardened by 36 years in the Senate, who was praised by the foreign guests at the NATO summit. “I am determined to get started,” he says in a firm voice: “I have to finish the job.” At the moment, it makes sense.

The problem, of course, is that the same man in the TV debate made the great destroyer and liar Donald Trump look like a smart world leader with countless glaring blunders and failures. With his performance, Biden actually wanted to dispel the public’s doubts about his mental fitness. Instead, many Americans left a devastating impression. Three-quarters of the population think the president is too old, two-thirds want him to drop out of the race for the White House. That, combined with previous blunders, revelations about covered-up health problems, a collapse of political sentiment in key swing states and a stubborn bunker mentality in the presidential family, has many Democrats in panic.

With Biden as the presidential candidate, the party is headed for a “devastating” defeat in the November election, which could give Trump a majority in both houses of Congress and, thanks to the far-right Constitutional Court, truly “unfettered control over the country.” On a silver platter, the former said that Obama adviser David Axelrod laid out the horror vision clearly. The liberal newspapers “Washington Post” and “New York Times” have urged Biden to withdraw.

Biden’s Struggle for Survival

Since then, the US has witnessed a political drama that dwarfs any Greek tragedy. The Democratic primaries are long over, Joe Biden has won 90 percent of the delegate vote, and his official coronation at the party convention in Chicago in five weeks was supposed to be a mere formality. Only the president can now stop his bid. But he is not thinking about it. On the open stage, the 81-year-old is fighting with all his might for his political survival. His critics within the party, however, have launched an unprecedented dismantling of their own candidate.

It’s all about your health

The devastation of the situation is palpable in the White House briefing room, where Biden’s spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre normally answers journalists’ questions about world affairs every day. For two weeks, the 49-seat room has been all about medical checkups, a suspected Parkinson’s disease (which is denied) and demands from within the party to withdraw.

Meanwhile, a mile to the east, on Capitol Hill, a fever of nervousness is spreading. More than a dozen representatives and senators have called on Biden to drop out of the race. Many others are expressing skepticism or resignation in private conversations. When Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries emerged briefly from the chamber on Wednesday, he was immediately surrounded by a crowd of reporters. “We are talking together. These conversations are open, inclusive, and clear — and they are still happening,” he replied vaguely. It’s his standard catchphrase, which he now tells every camera. He might as well be saying, ‘Go Trump!’ There’s nothing to see here.”

After all, there is talk. Days after his TV disaster, Biden, defiant and stubborn, saw no need to explain himself to the public, or at least to Democratic lawmakers. His succinct explanation was that he had “a bad night.” This week, he has launched a full-scale counteroffensive: rallying his troops, presenting himself as a world leader at the NATO summit and finally answering questions from reporters at a rare press conference.

This desperate attempt at damage control began early Monday morning, when Biden made a surprise appearance on the breakfast TV show “Morning Joe” on the left-liberal network MSNBC, which is not named after him but after host Joe Scarborough, but is still very friendly to him. Biden, who only won the nomination in 2020 with massive help from the party bigwigs, suddenly went on a Bernie Sanders-style rampage about the political “elites” who were running against him. In the countryside, however, he experiences “enthusiastic crowds.” He defiantly declared: “I’m not going anywhere!”

“Four more years!”

Even before he was welcomed by foreign guests at the NATO meeting, the president had been lobbying and gently pushing to win over the group of African-American congressmen and Democratic mayors. On his way to the sealed-off summit area on Wednesday, he stopped at the AFL-CIO union umbrella organization. “The two organizations that do the most for American security are NATO and you,” he shouted to the activists: “You are my home NATO.” The room cheered. “Four more years!” the crowd chanted.

But enthusiasm is not universal. Quite the opposite. Nancy Pelosi, for example, formerly the third-highest person in the state and long the president’s most important political ally, had noticeably not voiced support for Biden for a long time. On Wednesday, the grande dame of the Democrats, now only a congresswoman, suddenly appeared on the morning talk show “Morning Joe.” At 84, she is still three years older than Biden, but the shrewd tactician phrases her words with the sharpness of a precision knife. “It is up to the president to decide whether to run,” she said, as if the president had made this clear not so long ago: “We all encourage him to make that decision.”

I love Joe Biden. But we need a new candidate.

The hint was unmistakable, but subtle. Hollywood star George Clooney, a major Democratic donor and friend of former President Barack Obama, became clearer the next day. “I love Joe Biden. But we need a new candidate,” was the title of his scathing op-ed in the New York Times, in which the actor called on the president to step down to protect American democracy from Trump.

But Biden is digging deeper. “I am the best qualified for the job and I am the best qualified to win,” he announced confidently at the press conference. In fact, six out of seven recent polls point to disaster in November. But Biden cheerfully claims: “Nobody says that.”

The skeptics are not convinced

The unfortunate but not entirely catastrophic press conference should buy the 81-year-old some time. But time is what his critics have the least of, with the registration deadlines for the party convention looming. The party now finds itself in the worst of all worlds. Biden has failed to convince the skeptics. Immediately after the end of his appearance, which was broadcast on all major American networks, three other Democratic lawmakers called for his resignation. “The hard truth is that Biden would lose the race,” warned Jim Hines, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee.

Republicans seem to be convinced of that too. Either way, Biden gets the most lavish praise from a man who is otherwise not known for his friendliness. “Joe’s killing them!” says Richard Grenell, Donald Trump’s former mafia ambassador, during the appearance on X, thanking him sarcastically: “You did such a good job, Joe!”