Should Joe Biden Stay in the Race?
There are good arguments for staying — and also for leaving, but any Democratic candidate is preferable to the alternative
What more can be said about the CNN presidential debate that hasn’t been said already? Although the focus has been on Joe Biden’s terrible performance, what about the other guy? The Philadelphia Inquirer argues that there is a candidate who should drop out of the race — and it’s not Joe Biden. “Biden had a horrible night Thursday. But the debate about the debate is misplaced. The only person who should withdraw from the race is Trump.” Others have argued that Donald Trump should not have been on that stage.
But let’s all be clear on one thing: Debates have nothing to do with governing. Worse, there’s a constricted, game show–like nature to debates, where candidates are asked to give one- or two-minute replies. Responding to questions in this clock-is-ticking manner can certainly tell us something about the candidates, but I would like to see a major overhaul of how these televised debates are structured. I’ll have more to say on this later.
As for what transpired, viewers expected to see Joe Biden give a good thrashing to the twice-impeached, 34-times-convicted felon. Alas, that did not transpire (though some people have argued that…
