Comedian and talk show host Bill Maher has been responding to President Joe Biden’s poor debate performance precisely as one would expect, given his criticisms of the Democratic Party. In a recent op-ed, he joined the chorus of leftists calling for Biden to step aside and let another candidate take up the mantle to lead the party in this year’s election.
In the piece, Maher recounted people telling him to “stop making Biden-is-old jokes” because it would help former President Donald Trump. However, he refused to pretend that everything is just fine in Bidenland.
As Joe Biden himself would say, “Here’s the deal”: What happened at the debate last week wasn’t a tragedy, it was a blessing in disguise. I called on Mr. Biden to step aside almost a year ago, warning that he would be forever known as “Ruth Bader Biden” if he didn’t. Since then, each time I would bring up that idea, publicly or privately, people would dismiss it out of hand: Get on board, they’d say, the Democrats will never replace him, it’s off the table.
Well, now it’s on the table, where it always should have been. And far from being some kind of disaster for the Democratic Party, it plays right into what works best in 21-century American culture. Americans like new.
The comedian suggested that Democrats have an open convention in which the new candidate could be selected and argued that the buzz this would generate would actually help the party get out of its Biden doldrums.
Suddenly, instead of rehashing the debate from hell — worst episode of “The Golden Bachelor” ever — they would be hosting a competition, something Americans love. Who will get the rose this August in Chicago? Gavin or Gretchen? Suddenly, Stacey Abrams might say she’s in! And so might Tim Ryan, and Josh Shapiro! And Amy Klobuchar and Ruben Gallego! And Mayor Pete and Raphael Warnock! And Wes Moore, and who knows, maybe Andrew Yang says he’s a Democrat again! And that dude from Kentucky, I hear he’s great!
This may sound like I’m doing a bit here, but I’m deadly serious that this would be good for the Democrats, and give them a better chance of winning.
Of course, Maher did have a favorite Democrat to represent the party against Trump: California Gov. Gavin Newsom. He argued that he would be the best contender to take on the Orange Man What Is Bad™ in November.
My pick would be Gavin Newsom. Watching him make the case against Mr. Trump in the pre-debate interviews, and defend Mr. Biden post-debate, reminded me: This guy is good at this. Yes, he has too much “California baggage” — some of which I myself don’t love — but the contrast to how he prosecutes the case against Mr. Trump and how Mr. Biden did couldn’t be clearer. He’s forceful, never at a loss for words or stats, never stumbles, never intimidated. He’s un-bullyable, and that’s important against Mr. Trump. People are attracted to what looks like strength, much more than specific policies. And he looks great on TV.
The comedian wrapped up his op-ed by suggesting that “A group of the most respected senior statesmen from Mr. Biden’s own party must make the pilgrimage to the White House” to persuade him to step down and allow another candidate to vie for the presidency just as a group of Republicans did with President Richard Nixon after Watergate.
Maher’s arguments are understandable, given the circumstances. Indeed, it is possible that Democrats could replace Biden against his will – but it is a longshot. At this point, the die is cast, and Democrats will have to make do with their candidate.
