By dropping out of the 2024 race, President Joe Biden did what we want politicians to do: He put his country above his career. Knowing that his party had lost faith in its ability to defeat Donald Trump and that a second Trump term would threaten democracy, he chose to do the right thing and step down.
Of course, it took him a long time to get here. Although it’s only been 24 days since the disastrous debate with Trump, we don’t know how long Biden was in the slump before that. The earlier the clock starts, the worse it reflects on Biden and his team.
But ultimately, the story isn’t about Joe Biden as a person. It’s what he and his team have done — and what their actions tell us about the state of American democracy.
And what they say is surprisingly promising.
In a country where many think politicians won’t do the right thing, Biden did (though he exhausted all other options first). In a country where political parties cower in the face of their own leaders, one party was able to challenge and push a candidate whose campaign did not serve the party or the country. And in a country where polarization seemingly freezes everything, democracy shows it can still surprise us.
Biden’s resignation, and the Democratic effort to push him into it, show America’s institutions may not be as broken as many think.
Biden (finally) does the right thing
For years, voters have been telling pollsters they thought Joe Biden was too old to serve a second term as president. The race was competitive because voters were similarly wary of Trump, but clearly uneasy about Biden’s future.
Biden could choose to listen to those fears. He could withdraw before the primaries, or encourage an open convention when he returns Ezra Klein of the New York Times sounded the alarm about age in February. But he didn’t.
And then the disastrous June controversy happened, and the chorus grew deaf. Vote after vote The vast majority of Americans – and even the majority Democrat – concluded that Biden is not eligible to serve a second term. (This speaks to the absurdity of the narrative, popular among some Biden dead-enders and the bad-faith right-wing, that the pushback against Biden undemocratic or Even a kind of coup.)
Biden wasn’t just headed for defeat. He and his team were confirming nearly every negative stereotype voters had about the political system: politicians as selfish, elderly idiots unable to act in the public interest; Political parties were creatures of a corrupt elite completely out of touch with the people.
By stepping aside, Biden flipped the script. He showed that, when it really came down to it, the president had something more important than power: the fate of the party and the fate of his country. Even following the actual sequence of events Apocryphal jokes That “Americans will always do the right thing, only after they’ve tried everything else,” he finally comes to the right conclusion.
That’s enough to make even the most jaded observer a little more optimistic about American democracy—for at least two big reasons.
First, it shows that politics can still have value.
American politics consists not only of two parties, wholly owned by party elites, locked in a mortal and uncompromising struggle to the death. At least one of our parties is capable of running its own police: challenging an incumbent president and, ultimately, persuading him to step down. Contrast that with the GOP’s behavior after Trump’s many scandals — from Access Hollywood Tape From the Capitol Riots on January 6 – Unclear.
Second, Biden’s departure shows that unexpected things can still happen.
It’s hard to prove, but I think the root of many polls showing people’s distrust of American government is stuck in a sense: that what’s happening now isn’t working, and nobody is capable of doing anything amazing to right the ship. But it’s not surprising when a president abandons a reelection campaign.
Politicians like Trump, both in the US and elsewhere, thrive on the idea that the system is broken and nothing can be done to fix it. This is a problem not only because those particular politicians are dangerous, but because mistrust rots the foundations of democracy.
By showing that the system doesn’t just throw up unpleasant options — that politics can be more than just a contest between two unpopular old men — Biden and the Democrats did real work to repair those foundations. They showed that a central promise of democracy, that it can correct itself after serious errors, remains intact.
It will take a lot more work to completely repair American democracy, of course. The problems run much deeper than the 2020 election.
But this is a big step in the right direction. And as a result, I feel something that might seem unusual in the often dark world of American politics: hope.
