Joe, Don't Run

President Biden has treated his COVID diagnosis much more seriously than Donald Trump took his.  True, Trump couldn't get vaccinated at the time he got the bug, since vaccines weren't available yet at the time, but Trump was reckless in ignoring his own government's COVID guidelines, while those of us who did avoid infections before getting vaccinated took all of the necessary precautions. And President Biden had already received four shots before testing positive for COVID.

But, he is 79, COVID can have a more profound effect on the elderly whether they're vaccinated or not, and it's clear that, putting COVID aside, Biden has lost a step or two.  Not so much in his gait or his mind, but in his ability to work with a Congress, specifically a Senate that's evenly divided, that he was better able to deal with when he was in the Senate itself, or even when he was Vice President, a traditional duty of which is to act as a liaison between the executive branch and the legislative branch.  Biden's success as President has been modest at best.   

With a likely Republican 118th Congress convening in January and with Donald Trump chomping at the bit to run for a second nonconsecutive term - he's actually not in great physical condition either, but he has a base that will come out for him no matter what - Biden ought not to run.  If Biden became a one-term President by choice, there would be no shame in that.  James K. Polk and Rutherford B. Hayes were one-term Presidents by choice, and they accomplished a good deal in their respective terms; Polk acquired California from Mexico, and Hayes compiled a solid record of economic recovery and clean government.  (William Henry Harrison was the first President to announce that he would only serve one term when he was elected, correctly assuming that, at 68 years of age, he couldn't last two terms, but - as he died a month after taking office- incorrectly assuming that he could at least make it through one.)  Biden has already accomplished a good deal in a year and a half - COVID relief, the infrastructure law - with the possibility of expanding health care and lowering prescription drug prices coming soon.  

The 2023 State Of the Union address would be a good time for him to announce his decision not to seek a second term.  Presidents always use State Of the Union addresses to play up their own records, and President Biden could do just that and then say he's proud of what he's done, and then drop the big one, as it where, by announcing that he would not seek-re-election.  And it would accomplish something else - it would deny Trump a rematch with Biden and take more wind out of his sails than the January 6 committee hearings already have.

And while it is true that the Democrats don't have a good deal of alternatives to Biden, thanks largely for their inability to produce rising stars with anything resembling staying power or electoral success (I'll talk about that later), they do have a couple of folks who could run for President in 2024.

Like this guy.

Or maybe even . . . this guy. 😉

Watch this space.