Last Friday, after 19 years, I left a job I loved.
As the founding principal at Casco High School, the work was meaningful and important, summoning my full humanity. But it is time for me, and the school, to begin the next chapter. I wept frequently as my last day approached. I am relinquishing my status and purpose – as well as joyous, sustaining relationships – for uncertainty. But I am confident that the change will be healthy for me and for the school.
It’s time for President Biden to do the same thing.
After watching Thursday’s debate, I join millions of Biden fans in saying, “We love you, Joe, but it is time to go.” I am deeply grateful to President Biden. He defeated Donald Trump and has restored American integrity. His administration has narrowed the wage gap and added millions of jobs while spurring exceptional economic growth. He’s leading our necessary transition to a green economy, and he’s done more to rebuild our faltering infrastructure than any president since FDR.
Still, on Thursday, during 90 minutes of live television in front of the largest audience of decided and undecided voters either candidate will likely muster, Biden demonstrated that he is not the leader who can inspire us forward. He is not the leader who can voice what his administration has accomplished and all that we still need to accomplish. And he is not the leader who can beat Trump. And for the sake of our country’s noblest virtues – freedom, democracy and equality – Trump must be defeated.
Trump’s performance during the debate makes clear he’s both more dangerous and vulnerable. Most people, as they age, become even more themselves. In Trump’s case, that means he’s becoming even more self-centered, nasty and paranoid, more deluded, bombastic and incoherent.
Trump blatantly evaded topics he did not want to talk about – from child care and climate change to his own culpability on Jan. 6. He made outrageous lies about Biden’s record and pathetic boasts about himself. He spewed xenophobic bile about immigrants, repeatedly. And yet, President Biden was unable to refute Trump’s blather or tout his successes.
He was so focused on the words or statistics he was trying to recall that he lost focus on the American people. After a week of intense debate prep, his closing statement fizzled like flat soda. The debate-stage exchange about golf handicaps and a driving competition was the oldest, whitest and male-est in the history of a presidential politics that has already had way too much of all three.
How can I convince my two wonderful Gen Z children that Biden is our best option? The young people I have worked with for years, already saddled with existential dread about the problems created by people like me, deserve better.
There are scores of smart, proven Democratic leaders who could have inspired, unified and triumphed on that debate stage, starting with Vice President Kamala Harris. The most important and demanding job in the world requires more than winning debates. But being able to communicate your vision and to connect it to Americans’ deepest hopes and needs is a baseline requirement. We have seven weeks before the Democratic convention. That’s enough time to rally around a new leader worthy of America and ready for this moment.
But it starts with Biden having the humility and courage to step away now. The best way to expose Trump’s authoritarian intentions is for Biden to relinquish power, to allow another Democrat to carry the work forward. The best way for Biden to secure his historical legacy – and to cement his administration’s accomplishments – is to make space for new leadership so Trump is defeated in November. Again.
As I considered leaving Casco Bay, I sought the counsel of my wife, adult children and friends. They reminded me that the successful transfer of power is a true measure of any strong institution, and that leadership is less about stepping forward than it is, in the right moments, about stepping back. It’s tough to give up the best job you’ve ever had, the one you’ve worked your whole life to achieve.
We love you, Joe, but it’s time to go.
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