Should Biden give way to an alternative candidate?

Sir, – The dismal performance by US president Joe Biden in the recent presidential debate has raised very legitimate concerns about his cognitive health and hence his ability to run again for the presidency.

However, the main argument against the Democrats replacing Mr Biden as their party’s nominee is that, if they were to accept that the president is not in a fit state to serve a further four years, they could then face perfectly justifiable calls from the Republicans that he is not even fit to serve out the remainder of his presidency. – Yours, etc,

CHARLES SMYTH,

Kells,

Rebecca Watson: ‘There’s a simpler way to tell the story. But it would feel less honest to me’

---

Gordon D’Arcy: Ireland to expect the unexpected in South Africa

---

Six fabulous food trucks you could hire this summer

---

Thinking about moving jobs? Here’s how to get the salary you deserve

---

Co Meath.

Sir, – President Biden’s less than alert performance in the CNN presidential debate has led some to call for him to go and the Democrats to select someone else. That is very easy to say, but the hard questions to answer are who and how?

On the who, clearly the Democrats have no confidence in Kamala Harris or she would be the candidate by now.

Unsurprisingly, there are more than a few Democratic senators and governors who think they could be the next president.

Trying to get these to suppress their own ego in favour of an agreed candidate won’t be easy. If it was, it would have been done by now.

On the how, the US has a two-phase election process, a primary election where each party selects their candidate, and the general election between the party candidates. The primary election is an important part of the process because it is where prospective candidates get tested on their views and policies, their personality and background, debating skills and fundraising abilities.

Looking at the Republican presidential primaries saw once lead contenders like Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio 2016, and Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis in 2024 be absolutely crushed by Donald Trump. Becoming a presidential candidate is exceptionally hard.

If the Democrats were to replace Mr Biden, they would be selecting someone who has been untried and untested in a national election with an unpredictable outcome.

And that is even if it is possible to forcibly drop Mr Biden. Because if Mr Biden insists on staying on, it won’t be easy to remove him.

All the Democratic presidential primaries have been held, and Mr Biden has won 3,894 of the 3,937 delegate votes.

While these delegates are not legally required to vote for Mr Biden, many have been picked by the Biden campaign. Convincing more than half of them to stab their own president in the back in favour of someone else will be a most unfriendly process.

Given the serious risk of internal strife, it may disappoint some to discover that the Democrats might stick with a known quantity, rather than an unknown one. – Yours, etc,

JASON FITZHARRIS,

Swords,

Co Dublin.

A chara, – The options available to Democrats are worse than Edward Luce laid out in his article and thus the best course of action less clear (“This was a moment of truth. Joe Biden needs to step aside now”, Analysis, June 28th).

What Luce fails to properly interrogate are the probabilities of winning attached to the various scenarios that might occur should President Biden choose to step down.

The most obvious is that the vice-president, Kamala Harris takes over the nomination, but polling has consistently shown her to be even less likely to win than Mr Biden. There are various other possibilities, but the most popular is probably Governor Gavin Newsom of California. It is unlikely that the Democrats would unite behind a single candidate immediately, so a realistic scenario for Mr Newsom to become the candidate is a brokered convention where Ms Harris is pushed aside in his favour.

In so doing, Democrats run the very great risk of alienating many black and female voters – even sparking internecine conflict in the party – as Ms Harris is the legitimate next in line and her supporters may well be angered by her sidelining. This is key, because black and female voters are the base of the party and without their full support, no Democratic presidential candidate has a realistic chance of winning in November. As a white male, Mr Newsom would, one imagines, be particularly difficult to swallow, but none of the other discussed alternatives would obviously fare much better.

Add to this the limited time any new candidate would have to make an impression on voters, feelings of illegitimacy associated with the lack of primaries, and any number of other detrimental factors, and it is highly doubtful whether any scenario where Mr Biden steps down is likely to produce a nominee that can better his chances.

Democrats are probably damned if they do and damned if they don’t. – Yours, etc,

MICHAEL KEARY,

Berlin.

Sir, – History teaches us many things. One of the saddest is that there will always be people who are unable to prevent their egos from destroying their legacies. – Yours, etc,

FRANK E BANNISTER,

Dublin 4.

Sir, – I watched the election debate in the US and reached a different conclusion from others.

Certainly Mr Biden was below his best and appeared to have a cold. As Jill Biden said later, it is very difficult to debate a liar. Mr Trump did not answer most of the questions he was asked but reverted to his few talking points, mainly how immigrants were destroying the country and that he was the best president in US history and Mr Biden the worst. The moderators made no attempt to keep him to the point.

I saw no evidence of mental decline in Mr Biden although he did struggle to deal with Mr Trump’s attitude and behaviour. Most instructive was the range of Mr Biden’s facial reactions to Mr Trump’s outrageous and unbelievable statements, which were far more effective than his futile attempts to debate his lies. They showed no indication of a lack of attention or concentration. I think he was so angered by Mr Trump’s outrageous lies and claims that he found it difficult to answer coherently.

A different strategy on his part (for example, ignoring Mr Trump completely and just answering the questions he was asked) might have had a different outcome. I think the Democrats are right to stick with him. – Yours, etc,

MICHAEL FITZGIBBON,

Donnybrook,

Dublin 4.

Sir, – President Biden has been a great servant of the United States. First as a senator, then as Barack Obama’s vice-president and currently as president.

He could enhance his reputation if he were selflessly to decline the Democratic Party’s nomination thus allowing another candidate the opportunity to defeat Mr Trump.

We can but hope that sense will prevail. – Yours, etc,

PHILIP FORBES,

Monkstown,

Co Dublin.