Creaking Biden knows he is an old 82, but don't write him off

WHAT is Joe Biden to do? Last week two reputable polls rated his chances for re-election as in serious jeopardy, with him losing to Donald Trump in a series of must-win states.

- Michael Wolff x

This should not be a surprise; he's spent more than a year as consistently one of the least popular incumbents of modern times. He will be 82 years old when a next term commences - and not a young 82 and 86 when that term finishes, if he makes it. His vice president, Kamala Harris, one of the weakest in memory, provides little comfort. Trump, the overwhelming favourite to be his opponent, with his extraordinary gift for ad hominem attacks, has already largely defined Biden as senile and half dead.

Let's assume Joe Biden does not want to be the person to lose to Donald Trump. Better to retire honourably than be lumped with Hillary Clinton? Actually, he'd be remembered as much worse than that, because he knows what Donald Trump is, and what giving the presidency back to him would mean. The stakes, from the point of view of Democrats and, arguably history, are higher than they've ever been.

So... how does he get comfortable with walking away from his hopes and dreams and all that he's accomplished and might yet accomplish? Or how does he convince himself that, despite all the evidence, he is yet an inevitable winner and the last best hope for democracy? By the way, given the realities of modern campaigning, of image building, fundraising, and the complicated mechanics of assembling a staff and managing a national race, if Biden is going to go into the sunset and give another Democrat enough time to get in the game, he basically has to make this decision today.