Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.
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Democrats must directly confront the implications of President Joe Biden’s extraordinarily poor performance at Thursday’s debate. Many are panicked by the thought that former President Donald Trump not only won the night but will win November’s election.
On other occasions, such as this year’s State of the Union address, Biden has been clear and forceful, but voters are right to be concerned when they see such variability in an 81-year-old incumbent seeking four more years in office. Biden and those who advise him must give this due consideration and make an honest appraisal. It’s late in the campaign cycle, but not too late to make a change atop the ticket if that would be best for the country the president has so resolutely served.
While fact checks show that Trump made misleading statements or spoke outright lies at least 30 times Thursday evening, compared with Biden’s nine, presidential debates move the needle on campaigns and historically have been won on style, not substance. And stylistically it was a disastrous debate for Biden, whose raspy, rambling responses reflected the earlier fears of Dean Phillips, the Democrat from Minnesota‘s Third Congressional District who made a quixotic but prescient presidential primary run. Phillips’ campaign was based in part on Biden’s age being a political liability — an alarm unheard or unheeded by ostensible party leaders.
Biden’s performance Thursday may have been partly the result of a cold, as flacks from the White House whispered. But democracy may catch pneumonia if Trump wins, a claim Biden has repeatedly made himself.
Biden was right to counter Trump’s talk of risking World War III by emphasizing that it’s Trump’s likely acquiescence to Russian President Vladimir Putin that would cause catastrophe. And Trump’s economic proposals — particularly tariffs, which act as an added tax to U.S. consumers, and mass deportations, which would exacerbate an already acute labor shortage — would only heighten the inflationary and interest-rate spiral that has many Americans reeling.
There are scores more examples of ill-advised policies from Trump, including his vow to drain the Washington “swamp” of dedicated federal workers. (He’d make replacements based on loyalty, not competency, which would produce a true mire.) Additionally, there are his promises of “retribution,” a point he tried to obfuscate during the debate.
