One Man's Opinion: And they're off — in more ways than one

Last week’s CNN Presidential Debate between the two presumptive party nominees, the earliest since the first televised debates in 1960, confirmed what many Biden critics and conspiracy theorists have been claiming for months — that President Joe Biden is functioning at a diminished capacity. This, of course, by comparison made former President Donald Trump more resemble Jack LaLanne.

It was the Biden campaign team who benched the Presidential Commission on Debates, selected the debate dates, venues and news outlets, as well as negotiated the more complex-than-usual debate rules. They really have no one to blame for the painful results other than themselves.

I am not a physician, nor trained gerontologist, but I have been around enough dementia and Alzheimer’s patients to recognize Sundowning when I see it.

The economy and pocketbook issues most typically drive voter behavior in presidential elections, particularly among independents, absent a war or national tragedy such as 9/11. The Biden campaign just handed themselves a crisis of confidence.

Editorial voices as diverse as The New York Times, Atlanta Journal & Constitution, The New Yorker and HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, are each saying, in slightly different ways, for the good of the nation and particularly the Democratic Party, President Joe Biden needs to stand down, step aside and pass the torch by the Democratic National Convention in August, if not sooner.

Those voices and echoes will only get louder. The donor class and down ticket elected officials are in full panic mode. When Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign was limping, and resurrected by a big win in South Carolina, former President Barack Obama and other party leaders began approaching the remaining contenders in the field to coalesce behind the vice president, release their delegates and endorse Biden.

The echoes of the CNN debacle are not likely to be replaced by any second debate, and Democrats do not convene until Aug. 19th in Chicago. Joe Biden is not yet officially their 2024 party nominee. Should he choose to step aside, the Democratic Party bench is weak, but one name does clearly come to my mind.

U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia has won two Senate contests, in a largely red state in two years. Warnock is also the leading fundraiser in the U.S. Senate, known well by the donor class. By virtue of his other job as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Warnock is well known to the Civil Rights community and is a passionate orator, without appearing to be within the Democratic Party’s left-wing fringe.

The Savannah native is 54, a member of Generation X, and though it may be difficult to recall, young State Senator Barack Obama was only four years into his first U.S. Senate term in 2008 and 46 when he bested a seasoned field, riding in part on the wave of the national discovery of his autobiography, “Dreams of My Father,” which he authored in 1995.

A Warnock candidacy would require a speedy introduction to the nation, while likely solidifying the party’s critical black voting base. In his most recent election, Warnock out-polled Stacey Abrams, seeking the governor’s seat by more than 130,000 votes. Warnock atop the ticket also offers an opt-out for Kamala Harris returning as VP. Nominees get to select their running mates.

If the field remains status quo, then many voters may sit out this contest and this will be a truly base directed campaign and election. As I still think the American people deserve better choices, I will leave you with the thought that if the CNN debate was the start of the firing gun to kick off this campaign season, the phrase, “And they’re off...” also receives new meaning from this contest, applicable to both men...Off balance, off kilter, off message and off-putting. As this election is likely to produce outcomes, up and down the ticket, we won’t soon likely forget.