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Opinion: Biden and Trump Should Both Exit Stage Left, Reagans "Morning in America" a Distant Memory
It's only February and the election for the office of president of the United States has proven to be a contest between two candidates that a majority of the American population are uncomfortable with. The world is at a tipping point in relation to many global issues and the stress of the job compounded with the need for strong and engaged American leadership is more important now that at any point since the final days of the cold war and the needed American leadership of Ronald Reagan.
It was morning in America is what Ronald Reagan told the American public as he was seeking office, and the best of America was around the corner in world leadership inclusive of military and economic prestige. Under his leadership the iron wall of Soviet domination fell, and America became the preeminent superpower to the world.
Followed by George Bush senior America's leadership light shined upon the world and the term became, American Exceptionalism, until the Trump and Biden presidencies.
From leadership in military power, to economic prosperity never before seen in the world driven by stability and technological innovations America was a beacon of hope that the world modelled and aspired to follow.
Step forward to 2024 as the world shakes its head as do the voters of America asking themselves what has happened to inspired leadership? When one looks at congress, we see a body that is inept filled with infighting and held hostage to a minority of legislators that have no respect for the Reagan, Bush, Clinton years of peace, stability and economic and military dominance.
Look forward even further to presidential politics and the mood of the American people is a mood of frustration and anger. Look at the mood of the world and one sees world leadership, worried, concerned and anxious. America has a choice of two very weak leaders for the role of president.
Mr. Trump leans into dictators such as Putin, has suggested he would pull America out of its many strategic alliances such as NATO, which has served as a stabilizing engine for economic prosperity well. Trump wants to push a path forward of isolationism and nonengagement in world leadership.
Basically, Trump wants to lock the doors, close the windows and remove the United States from the world stage as the superpower that dominates that very world stage.
In Mr. Trumps world it is no longer "Morning in America", but "Nightfall in America" and time to retreat from the stage and turn off the beacon of light that once shined as a beacon to the world.
And then we have Mr. Biden. Biden is a man who's well past his twilight years and is in the final throws of life. Joe Biden should not be running for re-election. The impression the president gives in public is not senility so much as extreme frailty and not the image that must be protected from the most powerful position on the world stage. Confidence is lost around the world and within the American people in his ability to sustain a leadership role for four more years. He had a good run, the stock market has rallied to the highest levels every, the United States came out of Covid in better shape economically than any nation around the world. Job done now pass the mantle to someone younger and more vibrant.
Biden is just four years older than Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who is 77, and also has a tendency to make his own gaffes, like confusing GOP presidential rival Nikki Haley, 52, the former governor of South Carolina, with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 83.
Joe Biden is a crisis in the making. The last president to run for re-election who was so obviously incapable of serving another four years was FDR in 1944. But Roosevelt was in the midst of ably managing a world war and, as it turned out, chose his vice president wisely.
Biden’s mental and physical diminishment has been clear for some time and has been even more alarming the last several weeks. The Robert Hur report on his mishandling of classified documents underlined his reduced state. In an instantly famous sentence, Hur said his team concluded that a jury would consider Biden “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” The report, of course, included damning details of Biden not being able to place the years of his vice presidency nor — and this is what precipitated Biden’s angry press conference in response, the year of his son Beau Biden’s death.
What is America to do? What do voters do? It is time for voters to engage with the two major parties. Retake control, write letters, pressure the party leadership to change out both candidates at the party conventions. Many states still have primaries to vote in. None of the above is the choice that should be marked on the ballot via write in. The question to ask ourselves is NOT are we better off than we were 4 years ago? That is a shortsighted question.
The question to ask is are we a failing and frail democratic republic that is crumbling within and can only elect frail and questionable elderly leaders?
Or are we a nation where President Reagan's morning in America message is still relevant, where we are young, vibrant, innovative and represent President Bush's 1000 points of light?
The stakes of this presidential election could not be higher! The time is now to act, take control of who runs this country. It is time for the generational leaders of Trump and Biden to exit stage left and the next generation to take over the mantle of leadership and actually lead. America are you up to the challenge?
