BIDEN COMES OUT ON TOP
It has been lower than one month since Mr Biden gave one of many worst performances – if not absolutely the worst – at a presidential debate in historical past. Had he stayed within the race and misplaced, he would have been blamed for handing Trump a second time period. Now, he goes down within the books as a fantastic president, at the least so far as his social gathering is worried.
Mr Biden appears to return out on prime, it doesn’t matter what. If the brand new workforce wins, he will get credit score for serving to to defeat Trump once more. If the brand new workforce loses, he can retain the idea he would’ve completed higher.
With Mr Biden saying farewell, leaving the Democratic conference open at the least to a point, it will likely be a wild month forward.
If we’ve got realized something in any respect, it’s that the one predictable factor in US presidential campaigns is that one thing sudden will occur.
In the present day, we don’t know one thing so simple as the place the Democratic marketing campaign headquarters will probably be. It seemingly is not going to stay in Wilmington, Delaware, with out Mr Biden working for re-election.
Does it transfer to Washington, DC? The nominee’s dwelling state? Perhaps the one of many vice presidential nominee particularly if that particular person hails from one of many must-win Blue Wall states of Pennsylvania, Michigan or Wisconsin, or a swing state like Arizona.
If we will’t even know that, we definitely don’t know who will win come November.
Mr Biden’s dropping out adjustments all the pieces, at the least for now. Don’t hearken to anybody predicting this race apart from being too near name. They don’t perceive the 2024 model of US politics.
Steven R Okun is CEO of Singapore-headquartered APAC Advisors and Senior Adviser to geostrategic consultancy McLarty Associates. He’s a veteran of a number of US presidential campaigns and served within the Clinton administration as Deputy Normal Counsel on the US Division of Transportation.