As the saying goes, “with great power comes great responsibility.” The individual who sits in the Oval Office is not only in charge of the executive branch of the United States but is also the leader of the free world. Under his watch are the largest economy, the largest military, and, of course, the gravest challenges of the 21st century—a polarized world with conflicts ranging from Ukraine to Israel, tensions with states with contrarian ways of governance, dangers of global warming, and the highest levels of wealth inequality, with the deprived being neglected due to militaristic conflicts.
The position of President of the United States of America is one of the most important; maintaining the sanctity and prestige of the office with consistent delivery of the actions that prevail with the job is of utmost importance. Thus, the many occurrences involving President Biden in the past two years embolden the notion that he is neither physically nor mentally fit to continue to be the President for the next four years, where he would be 86 at the end of the term. The cognitive decline has been gradual, but it has taken a drastic acceleration since the State of the Union Address, where he was able to stifle disturbance from MAGA Republicans whilst addressing both Houses of Congress. After that event, he had several disconcerting moments, such as the report by Robert Hur, where he stated that President Biden forgot the date of his son Beau’s death, the occasional gaffes and senior moments that garnered great traction on social media to ridicule the demeanor of the octogenarian President, and most recently, the debacle during the presidential debate on CNN. This has led the White House to dwindle down his public appearances, including record low press conferences, TV interviews, and improvised questions by journalists—the presidency has been inaccessible when it needs most to build trust among the disenchanted people both within the Democratic coalition, the American people, and everyone else around the whole world.
In the current atmosphere, the most holistic move would be for President Biden’s coterie to convince him to step down and release his delegates for an open convention in August. The individual who shall be the nominee of the Democrats must be a unifier, as the party, unlike the GOP, is a coalition with fiscal and social conservatives to the far left, from the Nancy Pelosis of the world to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The nominee should be able to unite the broad coalition, especially the key demographic for the Democrats, which has steadily shifted over the past year, mainly Hispanics, Blacks, and the youth; all three groups are disenchanted and feel left out of the decision-making process of the power brokers on Capitol Hill, where many see themselves just as vote banks for politicians during the election cycle and no actual trickle-down of furtherance for them in terms of livelihood. 2020 will be seen as the election to defeat former President Trump, and 2024 will be the election where there is an essential generational shift in American polity.
Plenty is at stake in the coming months with the important results of the British General Elections, the French Parliamentary Elections, and ultimately the decision of President Biden. Like always, I remain an optimist in this world of dim hope. Eventually, even after all the global calamities we have overcome—be it colonialism, the two Great Wars, the rise of terrorism, adaptation to information technology, or the global pandemic—the next thing to overcome is the deep-rooted division on the basis of political and social inclinations, divisions that can be succumbed to with a humanistic approach to life and decision-making. One must wish for leaders around the world to make competent decisions. Hope is key. May the common man prevail.
